The downfall of Ghana football is due to politics - Joe Lartey

Veteran sports commentator, Joe Lartey believes Ghana's football is so much engrossed in politics which is destroying the sport.

In an interview with Joy Sports, Joe Lartey highlighted how politics and the pursuit of money have negatively affected the nation's football landscape.

Lartey attributed Ghana's football decline to the divisive nature of politics, which he believes hampers efficiency and creates bitterness.

To address this issue, the veteran journalist intends to visit the President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kurt Okraku, to share his experience and offer advice on reviving the sport.

“They should clean their heads,” the former GBC journalist said when quizzed about what advice he would offer to the leadership of Ghana football.

“Sooner than later, I intend to visit the president of Ghana football, Kurt Okraku. I want to have a little chat with him and share the little experience that I have with him. If he takes, fine if he doesn’t, he is in charge,” he added.

“The nose-diving of Ghana football… You see, in Ghana, unfortunately, we are injecting too much politics into everything we do,” he noted.

He continued, “It is not just politics, but party politics. It is a divisive element – it creates bitterness, it creates separation, and it blinds efficiency.

“They [the leadership of the FA] should remove prejudice, they should remove hatred, they should remove unnecessary competition; anything negative should be out of their heads.”

The 96-year-old emphasized the importance of removing prejudice, hatred, and unnecessary competition from the leadership of the GFA.

He urged Okraku and his team to focus on making Ghana's football great again, fostering positive thinking and banning anything negative, particularly party politics.

“Let them think about football and Ghana and let them say to themselves that we are here to make Ghana great in football, and it will happen. Let them develop positive thinking all the time. They should completely banish all the things that have destroyed many sectors of Ghana – politics.

“Football has become political because people are interested in making money out of it. Money leads to trouble,” he noted.

Ghana enjoyed considerable success between 1963 and 1982 winning four AFCON titles.

JNA/KPE