Apathy and anger of fans – a disconnected Black Stars

Before the game against Senegal, several ways were used to gauge the mood of fans ahead of the 2015 African Nations Cup match.

On a personal level, I used social media to ask fans to support the Black Stars, but the feedback was largely negative.

Many feel that the Black Stars is nothing more than a bunch of mercenaries who care only about money and not national pride.

Indeed there were several people who expressed the hope that Ghana would lose so that the taxpayer’s money, as per match bonuses would be saved.

My friends at Ghana Television went to town to do a vox pop on the game and the feedback was again negative.

Normally, you would also see people selling national flags, jerseys and other paraphernalia in the streets.

Not this time around, as everyone went about their businesses.

What was even more telling was the fact that when Senegal scored the late winning goal, the noise that erupted in certain parts of the country would make you think that Ghana had won the game instead.

Whether one tries to run away from it or not, the hard truth is that the Black Stars are no longer unanimously supported by Ghanaians.

In my view, spiritually that is very dangerous. I will come to that in a bit, but it is important that we need to find out the root cause of why this is happening.

The beginning of the ‘wahala’: communication inconsistencies

It all started when cabinet approved the sum of $100,000 as appearance fees for each player going to Brazil for the World Cup.

Indeed, at the time, everyone was under the impression that the government had told the players to take $75,000 or leave it.

The then Minister for Youth and Sports, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah told me so when I interviewed him on the now defunct Power FM back in April 2014.

At the time, you would remember that the players were against it and wanted $100,000 and it was when the team had arrived in Brazil that the Vice President, His Excellency Kwesi Amissah Arthur assured the players that they would get what they want.

This is where the inaccuracies in the information given out come into play. For instance, Afriyie Ankrah told me months later that the $75,000 figure he mentioned to me in that interview was for communications purposes and the actual figure was $82,500.

The Ghana Football Association had already announced that figure at a press conference when the team returned home from Brazil.

Again, I have it on authority that a player for the Black Stars went to Unibank, banking sponsors for the Black Stars and took a loan in the region of $100,000 with the understanding that when the appearance fees were paid, he would pay back.

This was guaranteed by a technical team member of the Black Stars and it was done in April!

So who was responsible for creating the ‘artificial’ disagreements between the Black Stars and the authorities that virtually messed up everything in Brazil? Your guess is as good as mine.

Broken promises and the influence of kissing money

I am also reliably informed that before the game against Germany, the players were given assurances that the money would be ready by the time they finished playing the match.

We are all witnesses to the performance put up which almost saw Ghana defeat Germany.

After a highly creditable 2-2 draw, the players returned to the dressing room only to realize that, contrary to what they had been told, no money was ready. Eventually, the money arrived under bizarre circumstances. It was flown in and Ghana became the laughing stock of the world as Brazil’s largest TV network, O Globo cut into a telenovela that it was showing to beam live the arrival of the money.

The powers that be in the Black Stars camp probably should have ensured that the money was paid after the Portugal game but instead, chose to pay the players the night before the game.

Pictures of John Boye kissing bundles of cash will go down in Ghana’s Hall of Infamy.

All Ghana needed was a win against Portugal to progress and Germany had taken the lead against the United States to make that possible.

Instead, Boye scored an own goal and almost repeated the feat as Ghana gave a limp performance in a 1-2 loss to Portugal

I will mince no words in blaming the government, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ghana Football Association for treating the players with disrespect, but the players themselves are not altogether blameless.

Passing the buck: an expert action by the GFA gone wrong

I was present at the press conference held at Alisa Hotel and the GFA sought to heap all the blame on the players, noting that the players’ intransigence was the reason why Ghana had a poor World Cup.

For me, that was the start of the team’s troubles.

What the GFA should have done was to have rendered an unqualified apology on behalf of the players and on its own behalf to Ghanaians.

Instead the GFA chose to pass the buck and that began to turn Ghanaians against the Black Stars.

Gyan, Dede fail to connect with fans and arouse public anger

In the lead up to Ghana’s African Nations Cup qualifier against Uganda in Kumasi, a press conference was held at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium with Asamoah Gyan and Andre Ayew in attendance.

Unfortunately, statements made by both players further angered Ghanaians. According to Andre Ayew, the players are footballers and so they expect to get paid for playing, whilst Asamoah Gyan noted that the money he sometimes spends to import vehicles and other things is in excess of the $100,000 appearance fees.

Gyan also said that he employs 200 people and is a taxpayer.

Whilst all this could be true, it was wrong for the players to make such comments in public, given the public anger against the players.

Indeed, some of the fans I spoke to told me that they are business men who would ordinarily shut down their businesses to come to the stadium to support the Black Stars, but following the comments from the two players, it would be better for them to concentrate on their businesses to make money.

Sports Minister misjudges fans by unilaterally declaring free gates

The day before the Uganda game, I found it eerie that the normal pre-match buzz surrounding Black Stars games was absent.

In the afternoon, news broke that the Minister for Youth and Sports, Mahama Ayariga had ordered for free gates for the game.

It later emerged that he gave the order without consulting the National Sports Authority and the various security agencies and so, after further consultations, that order was reversed and prices of tickets were rather reduced.

Because I moved around a bit that day, I had the opportunity of speaking to many fans and most of them felt that the edict from the Minister and the decision to reduce the prices were ways of disrespecting them.

Indeed a fan told me that it was not about the ticket prices, but about the fact that they had been taken for granted by the players after all the support they freely give them.

So, at the time, Mahama Ayariga badly misjudged the mood of the fans and so the stage was set for a poisonous atmosphere at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium on the day of the match.

GFA further disconnects Black Stars from fans by moving games to Tamale

I was running television commentary that day and I remember hearing a few fans (Ghanaian fans) openly cheering when Tony Mawejje scored to put Uganda ahead.

Indeed, some fans cheered the Ugandan team when the visiting players were leaving the stadium.

After all this happened, what should have happened was for the players to issue an unqualified apology for things that had been said and ask for support from the fans.

Instead, in a show of arrogance, the GFA decided to move the venue for future games for the Black Stars to the Tamale Stadium.

They might have meant well, but that decision sent out two major wrong signals. First of all, the GFA was indirectly saying that they could no longer count on the support from Kumasi, which incidentally has been the venue for majority of qualifying games for the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

Secondly, by that the decision, the GFA was inferring that the fans were not important enough for the hierarchy to patch things up with.

Financial losses, smaller capacity, fans exploited in Tamale Yes, games were won in Tamale, but the GFA and the NSA made financial losses because the Tamale Sports Stadium has a capacity of 20,000; half of the capacity at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.

Again, further disrespect was shown to the fans when, after they filled the Tamale Sports Stadium for Ghana’s 3-1 win over Guinea, the NSA increased ticket prices for the game against Togo.

I was in Tamale for both games and it was noticeable that the atmosphere and buzz surrounding the first game was absent for the second game.

The deafening silence from GFA and players

So, whilst Ghana qualified for the 2015 AFCON, the fans felt insulted, disrespected and taken for granted.

Under the circumstances, the GFA should have guided the players to make a declaration that they would not take any match winning bonuses for the competition, but would only take something if Ghana wins the competition. Unfortunately, that was not done.

Pouring petrol in the fire: Deputy Sports Minister stokes flames Secondly, the announcement by the deputy Youth and Sports Minister, Vincent Oppong Asamoah that the players would be paid a flat rate of $5000 a game, irrespective of the result, also drew the ire of fans, many of whom thought that the Black Stars would lose and not care, as long as the players would be paid.

Again, Asamoah Gyan’s reaction to the deputy Minister’s announcement said a lot. Gyan stated that the position of the Ministry of Youth and Sports was unfair.

In as much as I agree that more consultations should have gone into such an issue before its announcement, Gyan’s reaction also drew the ire of fans who now feel that the Black Stars players feel too big for their shoes and as such would dictate what they want.

What also worsened matters was the announcement by GFA President Kwesi Nyantakyi that the players disagreed with the MOYS proposal and that some of the players said that if the MOYS insist on paying each player $5000, then they would rather play for free.

That also sent the impression to fans that the players were more concerned about the money than doing well for the nation.

From fan connection to disconnection: the curious case of the Black Stars These are the major reasons why the Black Stars, who were superbly supported by virtually everyone in Ghana for that 6-1 thrashing of Egypt, are now a side so disconnected from its fans that quite a few did not even know that Ghana was playing against Senegal on Monday.

Whatever happens in Friday’s game against Algeria, it is clear that unless the government, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the GFA and the players issue an unreserved and unqualified apology, the Black Stars will continue to be seen as a group of mercenaries, rather than an army of men representing the nation.

The Spiritual danger of lack of national backing

It is also spiritually very dangerous to have a national team that does not have the unanimous backing of the fans and I will explain. Before the Egypt game, some churches organized prayer and all-night sessions for the team.

Many mosques were filled with Moslems all praying for Ghana’s success and indeed, a prayer session took place at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium at midnight before the game itself.

In short, all Ghanaians were united as one in supporting the Black Stars and even though there was optimism that Ghana would win the match, I do not think that anyone expected the 6-1 scoreline.

In the same vein, a disconnected Black Stars, devoid of that unanimous support, will find it hard to achieve anything.

Blast from the past: the case for immense national pride I will leave you with a story told me by former Ghana goalkeeper Abubakari Damba, who was a member of Ghana’s 1992 AFCON squad. According to him, this took place before the semifinal against Nigeria. “We were on the same floor with the Nigerians and as we were relaxing in our rooms, we heard a loud noise. Not long after that, our captain, Abedi Pele called all of us to his room. He then informed us that the Nigerian players were jubilating because the then President of Nigeria, General (rtd) Ibrahim Babangida, had promised each player of the Super Eagles a Peugeot vehicle if they could defeat Ghana in the semifinal.”

Damba tells me that later, when the team went down for dinner, the team was informed that Ghana’s Head of State at the time, Flt Lt (rtd) Jerry John Rawlings wanted to speak to the team.

“The head of State was put on speaker and so all of us could hear him. He told us that he had heard about Babangida’s promise to the Nigerian players and on his part, whilst he had nothing to give to us, if we were able to beat Nigeria, he would give us a presidential salute when we return to Ghana. We didn’t care that we were not going to get anything, but we were inspired by what Rawlings told us and that helped us beat Nigeria.

True to his words, when we got back to Ghana, he saluted all of us, which even went against presidential protocol.”

It would appear that pride in wearing the national shirt is almost gone, and as my friend Kennedy Boakye Ansah once said, “Make money your God and it will pay you like the Devil.”