Having succeeded in joining the stardom boat during his hey day, the famous former Black Stars player Mr Ben Adasi Fofie would have wished nothing better than comfort in life after his career.

But as fate will have it the former football star now finds himself in a wheel chair after having one of his legs amputated.

During his days he was the only player selected from Brong Ahafo teams to don the national jersey from 1961 to 65 due to his competence and scoring prowess, which contributed to the country’s enviable records in the history of African football.

Relaxing in his seemingly self contained wheel chair allocated to him as his companion, the 68-year-old retiree told me at the weekend that life after his retirement has been a struggle since he depends on lottery in addition to some help from his second daughter abroad.

“ You see our country is such that one is only cherished when he renders services to the nation but the moment you are out of it, you are being sidelined and forgotten, the ugly side of sportsmanship”, he said.

Touching on the performance of the national team the Black Stars the former footballer lamented that his heart bleeds watching the Stars play.

He said the administrators of Ghana appear not focused. “ It is high time we stopped pining coaches on the wall over the inability of the national teams to chalk success in their meets”. He added, “ a success or defeat has nothing to do with who directs the players, rather the Ghana Football Association (GFA) needs to review its strategic plans to transform the national teams”.

The retired footballer who hails from number II, a sub-burb of Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region made this statement in an interview with this writer.

Mr Fofie noted that Ghana football has been in tartars for so long a time and needs to be revamped to ensure that the image is redeemed.

“As a matter of fact, the yesterday’s Black Stars is not what we are witnessing today, the players cannot simply work maths on the field which has always rendered the team producing weak passes and poor information that have constantly denied them a win”, he lamented.