With the African Cup of Nations coming up in June, Ghanaian soccer looks to move forward after the corruption scandal that took the soccer crazy nation by storm. The team known as the Black Stars have always been at the forefront of African soccer.
The country is home to some of the greatest talent ever produced on the continent and will need to have a strong showing this summer to remove the dark cloud hanging over the sport at home.
The documentary Number 12 was released in the UK under the name Betraying the Game by the BBC, uncovered widespread corruption involving 77 referees and 14 Ghanaian FA officials.
In the aftermath of the documentary, Ghanaian FA President Kwesi Nyantakyi has been banned for life by Fifa. Fans in Ghana have long suspected that there was corruption going on and they have Anas Arameyaw Anas, an award-winning journalist from Ghana to thank for it.
Now that the lid has been lifted, where do they go from here? Nobody seems to be sure which is why the upcoming performance of the national team this summer at AFCON (African Cup of Nations) is very important as it could spell a new beginning.
The Time Has Come to Win AFCON
Current coach Kwesi Appiah has just received a 6-month contract extension which means he will be in charge of the team for the African Cup of Nations tournament this summer in Egypt. He was hoping for a 2-year extension but has been informed instead that his future is directly related to the team's performance at AFCON. In fact, there are reports stating that his contract has a stipulation that he must win the tournament in order to keep the job. Although this hardly seems like the ideal situation to work under as a manager, Appiah will know that anything less than an appearance in the final would not be an acceptable result which means a long term extension makes no sense at the moment.
By the start of the tournament, Ghana will have gone 37 years without winning the competition, a fact that is hard to explain given the talent they have produced during that span. Add to that fact that they have shown the ability to compete with the very best having reached the final 8 of the 2010 World Cup loosing to Uruguay. That match will always be remembered for Luis Suarez infamous handball, surely one of the most controversial and unsportsmanlike moments in the history of the tournament. Since their last AFCON triumph in 1982, they have finished as runners up on three occasions, most recently in the 2015 edition of the tournament when they lost to the Ivory Coast in the final.
State of the Current Squad
The current crop of players understands the responsibility they have to produce this summer and the squad has a good mixture of up and coming players to go along with their veterans. Coach Appiah will need to make a decision on his final squad. Their next game is against Kenya who they lost to 1-0 back on September 8th in a game that saw a lot of familiar names absent. That match saw the trio of Jordan Ayew, Andre Ayew and Asamoah Gyan all left out of the squad. It also saw star midfielder Thomas Partey of Atletico Madrid play out of position as a second striker. The two halves of that game were a clear indication that the team is much better suited when he plays in his natural position. He was virtually anonymous in the first half playing in an advanced role. The team performed much better in the second half when he played deeper in midfield but they could not take their chances which was also an indication that the Ayew brothers and Gyan are still needed in the team.
That fact was reinforced in their next match against Ethiopia when both Ayew brothers were included in the starting lineup with Jordan scoring twice in the first 24 minutes to seal a 2-0 victory.
Gyan Involved in Ugly Divorce Scandal
The match versus Ethiopia did not feature Asamoah Gyan, the all-time leading scorer in the history for the Ghanaian national team. This is not a good moment for him off the field as he finds himself caught up in a very ugly divorce with his wife. According to reports, he has been estranged from his wife and three children for quite some time culminating in a DNA test that was requested in order to prove if the children are his. That is as bad as it gets in terms of turmoil in your personal life and the fact that reports have surfaced that he is doing all of this in order to marry Ghanaian socialite Nina Atala means that this story will not go away before the start of AFCON. Considering his poor form at club level (2 goals in 19 matches) and off the field distractions, it is very possible that he could be left out of the final squad come June. It will be interesting to see if he makes the list when coach Appiah announces his next squad for their match on March 22nd. Be sure to check in on the latest soccer news for updates about AFCON and other international tournaments as well as domestic leagues around the world.
Normalization Committee Appointed by Fifa
Once the extent of the corruption was uncovered within the Ghanaian FA, it was inevitable that Fifa would have to take swift action to rectify the situation. All football activities were suspended in the country since the documentary surfaced and the world soccer governing body has appointed a Normalization Committee to run Ghanaian football affairs. An audit of the Ghana Football Association accounts will be done. Nobody is quite sure what will become of domestic football once new appointments are made by the committee. At the moment Ghana are ranked 52nd in the Fifa rankings, far too low for a nation with such a rich soccer history. They don't have much control at the moment in terms of what happens off the field which is why AFCON is the best place to start the healing process.