It is said that no person is indispensable, but some are irreplaceable, especially in the sporting domain, in fact football to be precise.
I pick former FIFA boss Joao Havelange of Brazil on the International front whilst Ohene Djan and Lt Col Simpe are my bet on the local scene.
Havelange was the visionary who introduced age group competitions aimed at giving youngsters, especially from the third world the benefit of being exposed to the world stage at the tender age.
Even though many African countries clearly managed to cheat the system with overaged players a lot of budding stars emerged and Ghana for instance won three World Cups at Under 17 in 1991 Italy and Ecuador 1995 and the Under 20 in 2009 in Egypt. The curious snag is the inability of our players to progress to the senior level like Ronaldinho, Messi. and Co did. This will be another topic for future discussion.
In the midst of the apparent worrisome situation in our current football administration some of us recall fond memories of names like Ohene Djan and Lt Col Simpe Asante as former football administrators who really made Ghana football tick.
Ohene Djan had been in the thick of national football politics since the pre-independence era and became national chairman in 1958.
Indeed, the Nsawam based professional teacher and cocoa merchant by occupation, launched the National League at a ceremony at the then Kumasi Town Hall on Sunday March 19 1958. Hear him “With immediate effect the reconstituted Football Association shall be the only authority to organise, promote and or sanction inter clubs’ competitions or matches throughout the country”.
The man was very much aware of FIFA’s mandate to FAs to control football “to the exclusion of all others”. That explains why he chose to be FA Executive Secretary when President Nkrumah appointed him Director of Sports in 1960 in the newly formed Central Organisation of Sports (COS).
He never hid the fact the President had given him full mandate, resources and personal support to make Ghana the showpiece of sports in Africa, especially football.
He actually lived up to expectation. By the time he was sacked from office in 1966 following the overthrow of Dr Nkrumah’s government Ghana were tops in many sporting disciplines. The catalogue included Olympic boxing medals in Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964; Commonwealth Games gold and silver medals galore in athletics and boxing.in Perth 1962, several medals in African table tennis and hockey championships and twice Afcon champs in 1963 and 1965.
Ohene Djan’s critics may argue he did not leave behind any progressive structures to follow especially football where the Black Stars made two failed Afcon Cup final attempts in Ethiopia 1968 and Sudan 1970 against Congo and Sudan respectively.
But for Asante Kotoko’s magnificent Africa Cup triumph in Jan 1971, Ghana sports literally went to sleep especially the nations favourite football and the Black Stars failed miserably at the Munich Olympics.
It was when the Military head of state Gen. Kutu Acheampong decided to run sports directly from the Castle that Sports enthusiasts began to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Lt Col Simpe Asante, a trained physical educationist was made special assistant to the head of state who was commissioner in charge of sports.
Simpe Asante had his office at the 11th floor of the State House. From there he could have a clear view of all activities going on at Accra Stadium headquarters of the Sports Council headed by veteran educationist Orleans Pobee of Adisadel College fame.
Simpe Asante was large and in charge, as the saying goes.
He even put professional boxing on the map. Noticing the great potentials in David Kotey Poison, a national boxing syndicate spearheaded by Justice D.F. Annan, a great boxing enthusiast was formed with a mandate to make Kotey a world champion. Other members were Mr Ohene Djan, Mr Mowbray Elliot and representative of the Sports Council. As is well documented the Syndicate worked well and realised their target of making Kotey Poison world champion in Sept 1975. Incidentally yours truly was at the ring side in Los Angeles. USA when Kotey outclassed Mexican Reuben Olivares to be WBC featherweight champion.
In football the league attracted so many factory clubs that when he left office we had six factory clubs in the 18 club tournament. The clubs were Tarkwa Gold Stars, Dumas Boys of GTP, Juantex, GIHOC Stars, Akotex and Complex Stars.
Clubs in the continental champion clubs’ series were fully sponsored by the state. The Air Force was readily at the service of the champion clubs. I recall the smooth flight on the Airforce plane to Conakry and back for the Hearts of Oak-Hafia Cup final in Conakry in 1970. Hearts unfortunately lost 3-2 having lost the first leg 1-0 in Accra.
The Black Stars Africa Cup triumph in 1978 was no fluke.
The team had been well prepared for nearly two years. They were set for honours for the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
Unfortunately, Ghana had to quit the Games in solidarity with an African boycott against New Zealand that had continued to have sporting links with then apartheid South Africa.
The team was still solid by 1978 because the players were in a real competitive league.
So when the authorities decided to send them twice on a tour of Brazil they were fully armed to win the cup. And they did so in a remarkable fashion to beat Uganda 2-0 in the final, both goals coming from nimble footed Opoku Afriyie.
The rules at the time was the three-time winner taking the cup for keeps just as Brazil in 1970 had won the original Jules Rimet World Cup for keeps beating Italy 4-1 in the final in Mexico.
My conclusion in this piece is that if the right impetus is given to the capable person sports or if you like football in particular, will once again rise to its dizzy heights.
The government must be fully involved in the administration of football in the country and stop treating the GFA as a non-governmental private enterprise for a selected few.
The Sports ministry was not created for fun (no pun intended).
Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.
