The decline in the number of Ghanaian players, competing with the best of the best and flying high the flag of the country in the major European Leagues appears to be a major concern for President of Cheetah Football Club Abdul Hay Yartey.
In the not so distant past, Ghanaian players flooded the best of Europe’s top-flight leagues with Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari, Stephen Appiah and others playing for some of Europe’s giant clubs.
However, the past few years have seen a sharp decline in the representation of Ghanaian football at the upper echelons of European football.
Speaking to the media about the lack of Ghanaian players in the top tier teams in Europe, Yartey mentioned that the age restriction rule introduced by FIFA as one of the factors working against the success of Ghanaian players. But he maintains that chiefly, it is complacency which is killing the hunger of Ghanaian players to succeed in Europe.
He said due to the poor backgrounds of most Ghanaian players, the slightest bite at success makes them complacent and dim their hunger for success.
“Age limitation by FIFA has affected our footballers. Those days, the Sulleys and Michael Essien time we didn’t have any age limitation. Age limitation means you can only sign a professional contract when you are 18. He can go out at 16 but can only sign a contract at 18 and that has affected our players”.
“Contentment is one issue. When a Ghanaian player travels to Europe and gets his first $1000 he is content. When he travels to Europe and scores 10 goals and they make him captain then complacency sets in. These are some of the factors that narrow down the height African players need to get when they get to Europe”, he said.