Some decades past, and I still remember the scene when as a young boy watching football match with my father and some colleagues of his friends. In the course of the match I made an unfortunate remark about a mistake a player committed. My father quickly gave me a stern rebuke for my inappropriate usage of words which happened to be an insult. Since then, I learnt my lesson to be careful with what proceeds from my mouth. Even though I was so naïve about the effects of words then, I really learnt the sense to be respectful by going out of emotions to being reasonable.
This childhood experience always occurs to me anytime I hear people talking vile and raining insults on the Black Stars and their various coaches. In my candid opinion, I have observed with keen attention that as Ghanaians we exhibit our hypocrisy when our pleasure is denied in the football games and this is a recent development compromised with partisan tones [will discuss in another article]. The players are our friends as long as they win. When they lose is either insult or the coach must go. Our failure to stand to offer encouragement and moral support to the team is the results of insults and unkind words leveled against our beloved team [I’m not talking about accurate and constructive criticism].
One fundamental unethical attitude that we all need to fight collectively as people living in Ghana and Africa, in particular, is the use of insults and unkind words against one another. We least think and care about the damages that sharp acidic words can cause in persons live. A typical example is Asamoah Gyan’s refusal to kick penalties for the Black Stars just because of the heavy verbal attacks that he sustained after missing a penalty kick in the 2010 World Cup tournament. His brother Baffour Gyan, unlike him instead, had retired from the Black Stars for good. Their gest, if not a demonstration, is unequivocal enough to let us understand that they have been victims of verbal abuse.
Whiles we seek for a win in the World Cup tournaments and subsequent matches, we must also seek to stand by the players by sending kind and victorious shouts into the air even at their weakest moments. Aside physical performance, they need moral health to stay on course for action. At least we have all witnessed how support from fans affects players’ performance. It boosts their courage from the impossible to the possible. The players will stand to fall by the mere thought that insults await them at Kotoka should they lose the matches.
The Black Stars will face the Germans on Saturday and all that we can do from home is to let them know that they don’t stand alone. We stand together at their side. We must write and speak hopeful words. We must continue to let the flag and the vuvuzelas shout noises of victory. Things may not look prettier for the Black Stars as at now, nevertheless, we cannot make things worse by our unkind words. Let’s put down the spirit of hypocrisy which makes them our friends only when they are winners. We must develop an attitude that cheers our players even in their failures. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.” Yes, this is exactly what the Black Stars need at this moment.
I’ll conclude by adding that in these tough moments in our country’s dark periods, we can only find purpose and advancement to face our challenges only when and after we have known how to use kind words in addressing issues. There’s no different man beyond his own words. If we learn to speak kind words, we shall learn also to do things in order. GO BLACK STARS! GO GHANA!
Clifford Owusu-Gyamfi
University of Lausanne, Switzerland
