There is nothing wrong with Ghana football - John Paintsil

Former Black Stars player, John Paintsil, has refuted claims that Ghanaian football is in decline, asserting that there is nothing wrong with football in the country.

His remarks come in the wake of the #SaveGhanaFootball demonstration, held on February 14, 2024, where football fans and journalists expressed dissatisfaction with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) by citing many reasons, including Black Stars exit from the 2023 AFCON at the group stages.

However, speaking on UTV’s United Showbiz hosted by MzGee, Paintsil criticized the demonstration, stating that it lacked a clear objective.

“I need to know the point of the demonstration. If it's Ghana football, then, we are not talking about the national team. The national team comes once every four months,” John Paintsil said.

He noted that the arguments against the Black Stars' underperformance lack basis because people have forgotten that the Black Stars have been able to qualify for the World Cup and AFCON tournaments.

“Even when we talk about the Black Stars, they qualified us for the World Cup. We have to see that we are still building. It's not the responsibility of the FA to look after local-based players. It's up to the teams to develop well,” Paintsil said.

Although protesters have expressed concerns about the lack of opportunities for local players in the national team, Paintsil said it’s the prerogative of the coach to invite payers, not the FA.

He said, “Every national team coach has a philosophy and they want to do well to improve their CV. It's not the FA who determines which local player is called, the so-called interference in hearsay, there is no truth in that.”

After Agyemang Badu’s submission, John Paintsil should have gone home for disgracing himself, Black Stars, Fulham, Westham, Leicester etc

????So he never knew about these little details whiles playing abroad? — Strategic self-anticonformity.#UnitedShowbiz #SaveGhanaFootball pic.twitter.com/7toUiX7Hbe

— BERKO Richard✌️ (@BerkoRich) February 18, 2024

What was the primary objective of the #SaveGhanaFootball demonstration? - John Paintsil #UnitedShowbiz pic.twitter.com/mvcJl7feO8

— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) February 17, 2024