Who managed Ghana’s World Cup campaign?

We are out of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Thus the above question has to be asked. There will be more questions. After the Black Stars’ first round exit at Brazil 2014, the natural thing to do is to demand answers from those who managed affairs of the team in Brazil.

So, who managed Ghana’s World Cup campaign in the South American country? Was it the Youth and Sports Ministry? Was it the Ghana Football Association, the Black Stars Management Committee, the Technical Team or indeed, the campaign was managed by the five bodies?

 
By Ghana’s previous record at the competition, Brazil 2014 turned out to be the country’s poorest World Cup tournament, not really on the basis of the quality of play but of course, by the points garnered; one out of a likely nine and also by the fact that Ghana exited at the group stage.

At their maiden appearance in Germany 2006, the Black Stars’ 1/16th stage exit, losing 3-0 to Brazil was hailed. It was Ghana’s first time. More so, at the time when the other African teams had been disappointing, the Black Stars’ display was impressive. In South Africa 2010, when all Africa’s representatives failed to glitter, the Black Stars, remarkably, cruised to the quarter-final. They lost on penalties to Uruguay. Ghanaians and Africa as a whole were therefore right when they dreamt that the Black Stars would excel in Brazil. That didn’t happen.

The questions to ask are: what went wrong and who managed the World Cup campaign? The Black Stars might have drawn one and lost twice on the pitch but outside the pitch, there was no draw. The team lost everything. It’s either they didn’t have it or they lost all the things; the tranquility of mind, sound planning and the unity that teams usually need to progress at tourneys like the World Cup.

I was not in Brazil but all the off-the-pitch news reports I followed pointed to one thing: that, there was uneasy calm in the Black Stars camp. The GFA denied some of the reports and also confirmed the others especially when things got out of control.

I hate to dabble in unproven allegations. Professionally it is unethical. Morally, it is sinful to thrive on falsehood and even proceed to question people’s competence on that basis. Yet in a country where the first disposition of most authorities is to be defensive when they have failed to perform to expectation, the temptation for the public to feel hopeless is real.

Ours is an FA that appears to have specialized in not achieving anything significant with the Black Stars yet after every tournament they behave as if nothing went wrong. Player indiscipline was Ghana’s bane in Brazil. Indiscipline took centre stage in camp.

What was done by authorities in charge of the team when reports emerged that one of the players slept outside camp? That a player could have the effrontery to assault an FA official confirmed the height of indiscipline in camp. There were vehement denials of a "player revolt" but later events gave ample credence to the thick cloud of tension that hanged around Ghana’s camp because of players’ disrespect for authorities.

Players almost boycotted training because of unpaid appearance fee. Even after millions of dollars – cash were airlifted from Accra to Brasilia (and that was “unwise” according to Deputy Minister, Joseph Yamin but it had to be done), the team still couldn’t win. In all, the question remains: who managed Ghana's World Cup campaign?

If the South Africa 2010 quarter-final feat had been achieved authorities outside the playing body would have claimed some credit. Had the much-talked about semi-final or final dream also materialized, authorities again would have asked for some glory. All that didn’t happen. Ghana lost. The Black Stars had only one point. They exited early – at the group stage.

Whoever managed Ghana’s World Cup campaign must take full responsibility for this failure. Why did the players' appearance fee become a big issue? Why did the players threaten to boycott training? Why did a player sleep outside camp? How could a player assault an FA official? How could another player insult the coach? Ghanaians must have explanations to all that happened! Whoever managed our problem-ridden World Cup campaign must prepare to address the nation.