The Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri Frank Annoh-Dompreh has called on corporate bodies to consider, as a matter of priority, assisting in developing football talents as part of their corporate social corporate responsibility (CSR).
He similarly urged his colleague Members and fellow Ghanaians at all levels to support the country’s conscious effort to provide quality artificial football parks across the country to promote quality football at all national levels.
Annoh-Dompreh submitted that Ghana has been blessed with sporting talents in the area of football, athletics and boxing among other sports and these disciplines can make the State a globally competitive one if much attention is given in that direction.
He acknowledged that Ghana has over the years branded itself as a football nation courtesy her dominance in African football in the past as well as her performance in the three World Cups it represented but regretted that these achievements has not translated into winning any laurels for the nation both within its circles and on the international stage.
He decried the deplorable nature of pitches which make ball control terribly difficult for our players, especially for the majority who ply their trade and profession outside the country where pitches are smooth and properly maintained.
The MP further stressed that considering the advanced nature of modern football, it is unfitting for Ghanaian players to be playing on sub-standard pitches and parks and expect them to compete and rub shoulders with their counterparts in global competitions.
The Nsawam-Adoagyiri MP expressed his outrage at the fact that there is no programme by the Ghana Football Association to spot and hone football talents at very early ages and so such raw talented players continue to be diamonds in the rough with no guidance of any sort.
Hon Annoh-Dompreh, who is also the Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, expressed these sentiments in a statement he delivered in the House on the topic ‘Enhancing the discovery of football talents in Ghana’.
He noted that the progression in the development of competitive football from the micro level to the macro level on the national front would propel teams within nation to become globally competitive.
He bemoaned the lack of academy football coupled with the absence of youth leagues in the current football dispensation which is gradually seeing a depreciation in the Ghanaian style of play and urged stakeholders to direct attention to the young ones and suggested that every club must have a youth base.
He recalled that most Ghanaian football legends started their careers by playing football on the streets but this phenomena is dangerous and cannot be entertained in this era of scientific football which demands pitches that meet standards of safety and convenience.
The Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman suggested that national youth teams must be groomed to effectively go through the stages of football from Under 15 to 17 and the subsequent levels that follow to enable the country stand the advanced countries.
He called on the authorities to roll out a project targeted at developing and promoting young football talents and added that the project would involve national football associations, football leagues, and professional clubs to encourage talented young footballers at the grassroots level
The MP revealed that a number of talents are wasting away in the villages and the hinterlands and proposed that the country must build small playing centres in every region of the country where children can come on board to exhibit their talent.
Hon. Annoh-Dompreh, therefore, commended the McDan Group and Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) for building sporting facilities for the people of La and Tema Manhean respectively and urged other corporate bodies to emulate their shining example as part of their corporate social responsibility.
In his considered opinion, the country’s football laws must be revised to ensure that clubs that are promoted to Ghana Premier League (GPL), and/or are already a part of the GPL, have better pitches which would enhance the beauty of the game.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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