Are Ghanaians Being Sour Losers ...

.... In The Case Of Ghana Versus K.P. Boateng?

There’s a line in one of Okomfo Kwadee’s songs which always makes me giggle whenever I listen to the song. It is a statement by a young man expressing displeasure to his brother-in-law’s treatment of his sister after the dissolution of their marriage. The divorced lady’s brother questions why his ‘Akonta’ could decide to seize virtually everything he had bought for his sister in the course of their marriage including even her underwear. Well, as funny or even unreal as it may sound, the fact is that there are some gentlemen who do just that – after a bitter divorce of a previously happy marriage they simply can’t stand the sight of their ex-wife wearing even an ear-ring they must have given her as a present. They wish her dead, make all disgraceful comments about her and try to seize all her belongings. For me, anyone who behaves that way is a sore loser, and not a gentleman.

In the past weeks one story that has been making the headlines as far as Ghana soccer is concerned is the reported announcement by Kevin-Prince Boateng (KPB) that he had retired from international soccer. Thank God at least, that instead of the usual ‘for personal reasons’, the young man was kind and frank enough to state his reasons for deciding to do so – to enable him concentrate on his club football i.e. the career that actually feeds him. Whether or not this is the only reason is not relevant here. What is relevant and clear is that by the rules of the game not even the usually well-oiled Ghanaian rumour mill can suggest that perhaps he’s been offered some hard-to-reject offers to play for Nigeria, Brazil or even Germany where he was born and raised, for which he has played at junior levels from Under-15 to Under-21, and which his younger brother plays for. In other words, if it were a divorce case he could not be accused of asking for it because he had the intention of getting married to another man/woman.

I’m well aware that on issues like this it’s usually the emotion of Ghanaians that speaks and not their reasoning. That’s why all of a sudden Ghanaians have forgotten that when KPB chose to play for Ghana, a country with which he could only identify himself through the surname he bears and eventually made history by playing against his younger brother (playing for Germany) in the same world cup match we were full of smiles and praises. He became an instant star, neither because of his tattoos nor that he’s the first half-caste in town but the fact that he excelled in the duties assigned to him. Now, with the same tag that Ghanaians gave to Coach Rajevac when he left, people are saying that KPB only came to play for Ghana to ‘better his CV’. Perhaps what the proponents of this ‘better CV’ theory forget is that by making such a claim we are actually insulting our own intelligence. In other words somebody wants me to believe that at the time Rajevac and KPB were looking for opportunities supposedly to promote their own personal agenda we so shamelessly ignored better materials we had just to please them. The fact of the matter though is that the mere inclusion of any player in any team, be it at club or international level, does not in itself turn him into a star. If that were so all members of our 22-man squad for the 2010 World Cup would be starring in top European leagues. So on what basis should anyone threaten KPB with death or wish that he get a broken limb?

Not for one moment in all this KPB saga has anyone made any convincing argument that the rather short marriage between him and Ghana football was a marriage of convenience initiated by either party for their selfish ends. If anything at all, it was a love-at-first-sight marriage that proved to be beneficial to both parties while it lasted. Kevin played four matches for Ghana in South Africa and scored a great goal against the U.S. to help propel us to our historic quarter-final match against Uruguay. He played his role well in raising high the flag of Ghana so if that has in turn propelled him into stardom it shouldn’t be seen as if anybody did him any favour. He worked hard for his glory. Divorces can be bitter, I agree. But as I said in my opening paragraph it is neither gentlemanly nor ladylike for a divorced party to maliciously discredit, and more so, curse and issue threats to the other. The rather insulting comments and vain threats by Ghanaian football fans both on air and in print are as unfortunate as they are un-called for. If we find it o.k. for us as a country to invite players into our national team on one occasion and sometimes never call them again why on earth do we think it’s unheard of for a player to decide not to play for us again? As a reminder, this is not the first time Ghanaian soccer fans are treating one of our players this way. On different occasions Michael Essien for one has been at the receiving end of the worst that can come out of our mouths for the simple reason that he was not ready, for one reason or another, to play for Ghana at a particular point in time. Meanwhile, let’s find out how many Ghanaians have bothered to find out which team Junior Agogo plays for now that he’s no longer playing for us. At least he has not announced anywhere that he has retired from international assignments. But do we care for him? What about Hans Adu Sarpei and many others before them?

For a country where it’s difficult to pin-point a sector that’s performing creditably it’s amazing how Ghanaians expect nothing but excellence and saintly devotion of our players to national duty. Is the noise and chastisement coming from people in our Civil Service, Health Service, Security Forces, the Judiciary, Press, Marketplaces or Ghanaians living abroad who see themselves as serving their country with all their heart and soul so much so that they want to crucify our players because by their own estimation they never give off their best? We are nothing but hypocrites!

Let me make myself clear that I’m not jubilating that KPB has decided not to play for Ghana any more. In fact, if he would, after second thought, and on his own volition, rescind his decision and make himself available for Black Stars duty I would be all for it. After all, that would not be the first time a sportsperson has done that. Just the other day, in our own backyard, Togo’s Adebayor did just that. But he did that, not because he was called names by his countrymen but because and after top officials of his country’s Football Association chased him all the way to Ghana to plead with him.

What we need to understand is that unlike at club level, national teams are constrained in where to recruit players from. And to those who just because of their disappointment in KPB’s decision are now advocating that we should no longer include Ghanaians born and bred outside the country into our national teams I wish to remind them that the fact that someone is born outside his/her own country of birth does not make him/her any less a citizen of that country than those born within the country. I see this as an unwarranted and unnecessary call for official discrimination which must be condemned outright. Those people should rather understand that it is the duty of our technical teams to scout for Ghanaian talents from any corner of the world for inclusion in our national teams. Therefore, it would be unwise for them to attempt to expressly exclude any so long as they meet the standards we’re looking for.

Whether for reasons of irreconcilable difference or whatever, it now unfortunately appears that the short marriage (or shall I say romance?) between Kevin Prince Boateng and the Black Stars of Ghana has collapsed but I do not believe for one moment that this is enough reason for us as the aggrieved husband to over react by making any unguarded pronouncements or taking measures that may come and haunt us in future. We can show more maturity than to behave like the divorced husband in Kwaadee’s song or others like him.

Kwame Twumasi-Fofie

kwametwumasi@yahoo.com

Sunyani