Ghana Football Association (GFA) president Kurt Okraku has urged the government to take greater responsibility for the long-term development of football, warning that the governing body cannot deliver sustained success without wider state support.
Ghanaian football has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, with the performances of the national teams and the state of the Ghana Premier League attracting criticism. Much of that pressure has been directed at the GFA over how the game is managed and developed.
Okraku addressed those concerns while appearing before Parliament’s Select Committee on Sports on Wednesday. He said the absence of essential infrastructure and consistent investment was continuing to weaken the country’s football ambitions.
The GFA president accepted that his organisation had important responsibilities, including providing logistics, improving playing surfaces, securing stadium facilities and appointing competent technical staff.
However, he argued that those measures alone would not be enough to create lasting success across Ghanaian football. He said progress also depended on sustained investment in the game’s foundations, as well as improving opportunities and facilities for coaches and players.
“If we are to be honest, there is a lot more that brings sustained success in football. This includes continuous investment in grassroots football, continuous investment in coach education, exposing coaches to the international market, good scouting, and good facilities (football pitches) for the kids and senior teams to play. All this we don’t have in our country,” he said.
Okraku’s comments came as the fortunes of Ghana’s various national teams and the Ghana Premier League remain under examination, with concerns extending beyond the GFA’s administration to the broader level of support available for football development.
He maintained that the country’s ambitions could not be achieved by the football governing body acting alone, particularly while grassroots programmes, coach education, scouting and suitable playing facilities remain insufficient.
