*....on promotion of Satellites to Black Stars*

Ghana is a gifted country when it comes to football talents, and this is always demonstrated any time we participate in a major tournament like the youth world cup.

Accordingly, FIFA’s vision for introducing the youth tournament was to help various countries to identify their youthful budding talents so that it can help provide inputs in their youth football development programmes as it were. Because without giving them such a platform, you cannot have full information on these hidden talents who may go to waste and in the long run defeat the main purpose of football youth development programmes.

I was partially excited and sad when I read the story which was alluded to the Ghana Football Association President, the affable Kwesi Nyantakyi to have stated that some of the current gallant Black Satellites players would be drafted into the current Black Stars which for me is been stampeded with excellent players who have matured both locally and internationally and as it were gone through the age succession plan of our football development.

I was happy with the information simple because I realized that even though we could not lift the just concluded FIFA U20 trophy as many have expected, the performance of the coach and his players have been recognized by not any person but the FA capo himself who was a witness to the bashing and vilification the Satellites and their Coach went through.

I want to believe the statement might have been made due to over excitement or it could also be based on the question posed to the FA President. Nonetheless, the FA President is one of the recent promulgators of youth football development based on a well-defined steady-rise project from the Starlets, Satellites, Meteors and to the Black Stars. Notwithstanding, it is a normal practice by the Football Authority through their technical men to promote some exceptional players with extraordinary talents to fill in a gap that might have been created by injury or aged players. The strategy has only benefited the country marginally so much so that we prematurely defeat our vision of constituting a strong Black Meteors (Under 23) who would naturally grow to be admitted into the Black Stars. Even those who would survive it found it difficult when the going got tough.

The lessons learnt in Turkey should have informed our readiness to quickly go back and clean the dust on our football youth development plan strategy that has been in our shelves for some time now. It should be an eye opener for our Football Authority and the way plans are executed for major tournaments, a case study for the Technical Director of the GFA, a food for thought to our National Coaches, especially Sellas Tetteh, a research material for Sports analysts and of course a major turning point for our footballers.

Turkey 2013 has served Ghana very well with all the needed information we require to reengineer our football system in a professional manner with respect to proper planning, appointing the right Coach, selecting the right calibre of players with the right ages, develop a tournament event plan, avoid destructive rumours of bribery and the allegation of football managers invading the teams camp to induce the coaches to feature their players for marketability.

We saw a Black Satellites that brought to the tournament a variety of instances such as poor starting, porous defensive set up, impotent midfield show and disabled attacking machinery. However, we were false to rewrite our scripts when the entire team together with their Coach, SellasTetteh gave us a different spectacle of a slight defensive improvement, creative midfield play and intelligent attacking machinery led by the golden boot winner Ebenezer Assifuah. The Satellites indeed exhibited a fighting spirit that was extraordinary, combined with teamwork, individual talents and an amazing energy.

I was personally surprised when I heard some section of Ghanaians and Sports Journalists lambasting Coach Tetteh for our inability to beat France and subsequently reach the grand finale. I respect their opinions but I think that a more reflection should have been done so that a fair statement could be made about the team and their coach. All the participating countries have all gone home with both high and low points which would offer them the opportunity to re-plan in their subsequent tournaments. But one thing they would keep sacred is the core of their team for a wholesale graduation to the next national team, in this instance their under 23.

Let me seize the opportunity to congratulate the gallant Black Satellites team, the GFA, Coach Sellas Tetteh, the Youth and Sports Minister, Journalists, Supporters Unions and Ghanaians in general. However I want to reiterate that the idea to promote EBENEZER ASSIFUAH, CLIFORD ABOAGYE, SEIDU SALIFU AND FRANK ACHEAMPONG is not the best for now when there is a clear selection challenges for the Black Stars Coach with players traffic jam on the ascendancy due to the return of some players and even the quality of the Black Stars bench cannot afford these young talents to explore their future Black Stars ambition.

Mr.President, with all respect, kindly instruct your hardworking Technical Director, Mr. Oti Akenteng to as a matter of urgency restructure our national teams at this material moment to recall the under 17 who could not qualify to their impending World Cup to begin programmes leading to their graduation to the under 20 and the current under 20 should be reorganized for an onward promotion to the under 23. It means what we must start doing something now to start identifying the future under 17 players with right ages as against future qualifiers and tournaments.

I rest my case for now. Merci.