Akufo-Addo to launch presidential policy on football to 'correct' Black Stars failures

According to him, the policy will take a long-term approach and will focus on scouting and grooming talent at the juvenile level.

"Mr Speaker, I believe it is time for us to take a long-term, far-sighted approach to correct what has gone wrong,” Akufo-Addo said in his State of the Nation address on Tuesday, February 27, 202.

“It is time to return to scouting, grooming and developing talent at the district grassroots level under a Presidential Policy on Football that I intend to unveil.

“The school sports department of the Ministry of Education will work hand in hand with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, in collaboration and synergy with the Ghana Football Association (GFA), to build district, regional and national juvenile teams for both boys and girls.”

SONA 2024: I have no doubt Black Stars will make us proud again – Akufo-Addo Pulse Ghana

The Black Stars were unable to advance to the knockout stage of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in the Ivory Coast.

Chris Hughton’s side failed to win a single game at the tournament, with a loss to Cape Verde and draws against Egypt and Mozambique sealing their fate.

This adds to the disappointing trajectory of Ghana exiting the group stage of each of their last three major tournaments (two AFCONs and one World Cup).

Akufo-Addo, however, said his administration was putting in place measures to ensure that Ghana’s football was back to its best.

He further touted some of the successes chalked by the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in sports, pointing to the astroturf pitches built across the country.

President Akufo Addo Pulse Ghana

On the way forward, the President likened his yet-to-be-launched presidential policy on football to the late Ben Koufi’s development plan that served the national team well in the 2000s.

“We should see a steady progression of talent from the junior juvenile teams to the senior sides based on merit and nothing else.

“Such a similar approach has been tried before under the five-year football development plan led by the late Ben Koufie, initiated by the NPP administration of President J.A. Kufuor.

“I was under this time that talents that Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari, John Mensah, Derrick Boateng and later Asamoah Gyan and Stephen Appiah were discovered and nurtured,” Akufo-Addo added.