Sports minister concerned with patriotism of national team players
The Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif who also doubles up as the Member of Parliament for Yagaba-Kubori has called on players invited to the various national teams to demonstrate patriotism when given call ups to play for the nation.
He made the comments at the annual congress of the Ghana Football Association at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi.
Sports Minister Ussif was clearly unhappy with developments with the various national teams where the focus has been heavily centered on off-field issues like bonuses rather than performances on the football pitch.
It has been widely reported that the issue of bonuses reared its ugly head again when the Black Meteors participated at the just ended African U-23 qualifiers in Morocco with the team failing to advance out of their group and in the process failing to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris.
For him, this that not auger well for the sport.
“We should include in our development process, the spirit of nationalism and patriotism amongst our players because I find it very very difficult to comprehend or understand that the state will make all the resources available by making sure that we give opportunities for the national teams, get them flights for camping opportunities, accommodate them for a very long period, feed them during trial matches then we see these players get to tournaments, instead of focusing on the tournament, the focus is now on their bonuses.”
“Meanwhile, they are being paid per diem to ensure that they focus on the tournament. It is time for the national team players to value the flag that they represent,” he added.
The Ghana Football Association is expected to deliberate on issues affecting the football space in Kumasi with a focus on making the game better and holding elections for various positions at the Association before the end of the year.
