Sports Features of Tuesday, 29 May 2007

Source: Accra Mail

No Politics Here

These past few years have witnessed an attempt by desperate politicians to associate certain national league clubs with political parties, a preoccupation which is anything but sane.

At the Dunia Cinema, where National Democratic Congress (NDC) elements meet every Saturday, the giant flag of the party bears the colours of Accra Hearts of Oak.

Those who superimposed the colours to this respectable soccer team are oblivious to the fact that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is host to many Hearts of Oak fans like Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey among others.

Observers have expressed dismay at this development which they add is not good for the development of the sports of soccer in the country.

Soccer administrators at Fifa level have time without number frowned at the interference of governments in the game of soccer.

They are currently bearing their teeth at the attempts by the European Union to come out with a certain legislation which in their estimation is a governmental interference in matters of soccer.

From the Upper West Region whiz kids, the Wa All-Stars supporters have decided to sound a similar warning to political elements who are trying to draw dirty politics into the noble game of soccer.

Some of these politicians ensconced in the nation's capital are seeking to destroy the good works of Mr. Akwasi Nyantakyi, the Ghana Football Association (GFA), the man credited with the raising the standards of soccer in the Upper West Regional capital of Wa, according to a Wa citizen residing in Accra.

Pleading for anonymity he said Mr. Nyantakyi has done a lot to raise the level of soccer in the region and that it would be long before the nation starts reaping from the efforts of this man at the GFA.

According to him some of these killjoys hail from the Northern part of the country and even hold top civil service positions.

Supporters of the club won't have it that way and have fired a correspondence in which they are calling on such miscreants to leave them out of their dirty politics to allow the sports to continue with its phenomenal growth under Akwasi Nyantakyi.

Mr. Akwasi Nyantakyi is said to be a silent achiever but who like others who show promise in their occupations, he has attracted the opprobrium of some persons.

"These people want to destroy the man and by turning their heat on a baby he has nurtured in the form of the Wa All-Stars. They want to destroy him and the team but unfortunately for them, the people of the region are with the man" he said.

When contacted the GFA Chairman said he is just doing his work and serving his community and country and would be judged by these.

Although he refused to point at any dark horse, information has it that they abound in the corners, unleashing all manner of ploys to throw spanners into the works of Ghana soccer.

Someone quipped "watch out for the type of missile hurled at Malam Issa." A lawyer by profession, Akwasi Nyantakyi appears to be weathering the storm of politicized soccer by desperate killjoys.