The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, has urged the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to ensure that Ghana regains its glorious and winning form on the international stage. He said like most Ghanaians he was worried that Ghana football had lost its place as among the best as both clubs and national teams struggle to impress when they participate in competitions.

Prof. Oquaye thus charged the GFA to ensure that the right structures were laid as it sought to rebuild the sport to help recover the past glory.

Welcoming the members of the GFA Executive Council (ExCo) to his office last Wednesday, the Speaker congratulated the members on being elected to serve and urged them to use the opportunity given them to make an impact.

Democratic process

“May I congratulate and your team on going through an elective process and coming out victoriously. This is an example of the deepening of the democratic process in our country,” the Speaker noted. “I charge you to restore Ghana to its rightful place at the apex of African football,” he added.

The Speaker also made a passionate appeal to the GFA to pay special attention to women’s football, stressing that Ghanaian women had great potential which could be harnessed to make Ghana proud.

Government White Paper

The GFA President, Mr Kurt Okraku, made a special appeal to Prof. Oquaye for Parliament to have a second look at aspects of the white paper issued on the 18-year-old Gbadegbe Commission report for the betterment of Ghana football.

“Some aspects of the report were a great hindrance to the development of domestic football because it limits the GFA in scheduling games between Kotoko and Hearts in the evening, as well as during mid-week,” he stated.

The GFA president also told the Speaker that he and his team had already put in place innovations to address some of the issues he had raised, including making the league more competitive and more exciting

Select Committee

After the meeting with the Speaker, Mr Okraku and his team also met with the members on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Sports, Youth and Culture.

They were welcomed by the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the committee, Mr Alex Kofi Agyekum, and Kojo Asemanyi, respectively.

The committee reminded the GFA President and his team of the huge challenges ahead in reviving Ghana football, but expressed optimism that the mandate given them by the football community was enough testimony of the confidence the people had in them.