Disband current Black Stars team – Prof Agyekum

Professor Kofi Agyekum, Former Head of the Department of Linguistics at the University of Ghana has called for an immediate dissolution of the Senior National Football Team, the Black Stars.

Speaking on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo, Professor Kofi Agyekum, popularly called Opanyin Agyekum, insisted that if the current crop of Black Stars players are not producing the desirable results for Ghana, they should all be disbanded for a new team to be put in place.

The Linguistics expert was commenting on the Daily Dispatch’s lead story in its Tuesday, September 9th edition which questioned whether the Ministry of Youth and Sports be renamed Ministry of Black Stars.

To better reflect what it is doing, Ben Ephson called on President John Mahama to do the renaming.

According to Managing Editor of the Accra-based daily, although the Ministry of Youth and Sports is charged with the development and ultimate success of a wide range of sporting activities like volleyball, handball, hockey and table tennis; both past and present leaders of the Ministry have concentrated on the senior national soccer team, the Black Stars, even to the detriment of the other soccer teams and the local league, saying there is no money to fund the other sports.

Sharing his thoughts on the abysmal performance of the Black Stars during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Opanyin Agyekum, who now heads the School of Performing Arts, expressed alarm over the inability of the players to acquire any "world title" for the nation.

According to him, the players are reaping from the State and have over the years become recipients of huge sums of money, yet have performed below standard.

The players, he stated, have made a huge fortune at the expense of University Lecturers, trainee teachers and other underprivileged societies.

Cataloguing the benefits derived by University Lecturers and trainee teachers in the country, Professor Agyekum argued that the players earn a lot more than the monies paid to teachers for their combined efforts towards the education sector.

“If we observe that they cannot do it and if we could set them aside and spend our money on those players who can best do the job, then let’s make it in that fashion…In boxing, Azuma Nelson has won a world title for us before. What world title has the Black Stars won for us? Even with African Cup, how many years now since the Black Stars last won the cup?” He rhetorically asked.

He also advised the Ministry of Sports and the Ghana Football Association to support other sporting disciplines such as boxing, which has a historical record in the sports sector.