The Black Stars of Ghana are destined to fly high the flag of Ghana and Africa at the 2006 world cup.

Within a week the team has demonstrated a rare breed of Ghanaian and African soccer resulting in the defeat of Jamaica and South Korea and an impressive draw with Turkey.

Review of Friendly Matches

The performance of the team in the three friendly matches was very impressive.

I have already discussed the first two friendlies against Turkey and Jamaica. The third match against South Korea was equally impressive.

In all the matches the Black Stars exhibited individual and team brilliance - an indication that Ghana will make an impressive impact at the World Cup.

I have written exhaustively about the match against Turkey. The team’s performance has been on the ascendancy since this match. The team put up a five-star performance against Jamaica.

The high-class performance of the team was proven beyond every shred of doubt with an emphatic win against 2002 World Cup semi finalist, South Korea.

The individual brilliance of the players was very well advertised. Above all, teamwork was key to the recent successes.

World Cup Match Programme

The five-star performance of the team exhibited throughout the three friendly matches may have sent out strong warnings to our opponents in the competition.

The fitness level of the team has reached an enviable level so has the confidence of the boys risen very high.

These are important factors in team building. The three days training at Champneys Health Resort in England also played no mean a role in this whole effort.

Team’s Itinerary

The team has now plunged into serious training at its camp base in Wurzburg. We will be based in Wurzburg up to 11th June 2006 when we move to Hanover for the first match against Italy on 12th June 2006.

We will leave Hanover on 13th June 2006 back to Wurzburg. We leave Wurzburg again on 16th June 2006 for Cologne to honour our second match against the Czech Republic. We return from Cologne on 18th June 2006 to Wurzburg.

The team will leave Wurzburg to Nuremberg on 21st June 2006 for the match against USA on 22nd June 2006.

The venue for the second round and subsequent matches will be determined by our position in the group.

We shall travel on the eve of the match and return a day thereafter. Each trip outside our team base to a match venue will be done by a charter flight provided by the German Local Organizing Committee (LOC).

All flights will last a maximum of one hour. The flight will carry only the 45 accredited delegates of each team. The LOC will not permit any non-accredited person to join the flight.

The rational is that the insurance cover provided for the flight is limited to only the 45 delegates.

Camp Rules and Interviews

There are strict security and organizational measures in place to regulate activity during the team’s trainings and around the hotel.

Visitors are not allowed into the players’ rooms.

Interviews will only be granted in accordance with our interview plan and schedules.

We have a FIFA mandatory press conference on the eve of each match. We have our own a day after each match.

Apart from these we will try and provide a few other opportunities on advertised days and times.

We are working hard to maintain the high team spirit and morale in camp. A lot of hard work and resources have already gone into this business.

The players have shown a lot of commitment and dedication to the national cause. I commend them highly.

Technical Team

I have noticed a lot of professionalism in the work of the technical team.

Our training schedules and content are no longer different from any professional side.

As we strive to attain full professional status, we have gathered a mix of professionals to ensure that all the expertise needed to build a winsome team for the world cup is achieved.

Accordingly, our technical team comprises the following professionals: head coach and his assistants, team doctors, physiotherapists, a psychologist, a nutritionist, masseur, welfare manager, equipment manager, and a media director. We do not want to leave anything to chance.

The work of the technical team has impacted positively on the team’s efforts. It behoves on us all at this time to give the players and their technical handlers the needed support to perform at this world cup.

Management

We have introduced modern scientific practices into the management of the team. There is a clear definition of job schedules for every member of the team.

There is delegation of duty and management by objectives, we are managing the team professionally even to the envy of pioneers of Modern Management Science such as Henry Fayol, Frederick Taylor and Peter Drucker.

Regulations of the Football Association

Last Month an extraordinary Congress was held to discuss proposals for amendment of the Regulations of the Football Association.

The exercise was undertaken in pursuance of our bigger objective of injecting more professionalism into the running of the game in Ghana.

The highlights of the deliberations are as follows:

i) The football calendar for Ghana was changed from February to December to July to April. This will synchronize our football calendar with the European calendar. The new calendar will introduce more competition in our domestic league. Our teams participating in African championships will receive the necessary preparation before the start of such competitions.

ii) Two transfer windows were created to meet the demands of FIFA and also prevent the situation where players are transferred to European clubs in the middle of the season.

iii) The death knell should be sounded for the perennial problem of unqualified players.
The list of registered players will be published for a period during which anyone could protest against the said player.
On expiry of the deadline, the player’s registration would be validated by the FA.

iv) Premier division clubs are required to incorporate their entities as companies limited by shares or guarantee.

v) Premier division clubs are obliged to file their audited accounts for the last but one season.

vi) Clubs are obliged to register two strips for home and away matches for the season

vii) Failure to comply with (iii) (iv) and (v) above shall result in the forfeiture of points for matches played without complying with the requirements.

viii) The ruling in the Bossman case was given teeth in Ghana by the promulgation of a rule, which makes players free exactly on expiry of their contracts.
The previous rule gave clubs a 90 day grace period to decide whether to further contract their players or not, and vice versa.

We have indicated our intention to change the structure of our domestic league by reviewing the number of clubs that will be promoted from the first division to the premier division and the number of clubs that will be relegated as well.

The national first division league will also be reviewed. The ultimate objective is to transform the game into a much more improved one.

Business Plan for the Football Association

As a further step to inject more professionalism into the running of the football association, a new business plan has been drawn up.

In the past only the laurels won adjudged the tenure of office of the FA. We have set ourselves targets to achieve within the next 4 years.

The business plan addresses issues about youth football, coaching, refereeing, women’s football, men’s competitions, sports medicine and administration, marketing and public relations, information technology and finance, among others.

Each core area of our business has its targets. We have an over all target for the association, our mission and vision have also been stated in clear unambiguous terms.

The total expenditure profile and revenue stream for the association has been identified.

We want to run football like a business. We require about US$4m to finance our yearly budget. We want to lay a strong foundation for the game in Ghana and provide a sustainable basis for the growth and development of football in Ghana.

There is a lot of life after the 2006 world cup. How do we ensure that we continue to qualify for subsequent world cups?

What policy do we have for youth football? What do we want to do about refereeing and coaching?

What marketing strategies do we want to pursue to generate the needed revenues for our plans and programmes?

This and many more have been encapsulated in the new 4-year business plan of the GFA.

The plan recognizes that in the past previous administrations had tried to develop the game though one plan or the other.

The new business plan is an aggregation of the ideas, thoughts and concepts in the previous plans. We have tried to review all and synchronized them into our objectives to become more relevant for our purposes. We have also added some new subjects, which were absent in the previous plans.

I believe that Ghana football deserves a better place than where we currently find it.

We shall work hard to ensure that we achieve the targets we have set ourselves. We need the support of all.

All must cultivate a new approach and attitude and way of doing things.

FIFA Congress

I am attending the 56th FIFA Congress in Munich, Germany.

The Congress started on 7th June 2006. The first day was devoted to an address by the President of FIFA Mr. Sepp Blatter, the Minister for the Bavarian Region and the Chancellor for the Federal Republic Dr. Angela Merkel.

There was an award session where a number of personalities were given order of merit from FIFA.

They included Mr. Jaoa Havelange former President of FIFA and Mr. Issa Hayatou, President of CAF.

The second day considered the audited accounts of FIFA and proposals for amendment of the FIFA statutes.

A lot of issues have been raised at the congress bordering on the development of the game in Africa.

It’s about time we (Africa) position and pace ourselves to move in tandem with our counterparts in Europe and South America.

Africa stands to benefit in the near future from the provision of artificial pitches by FIFA.

The various leagues would be given support while football executives who play a key role in the development of the game would be given training.

FIFA would also be setting up a TV channel for the 2010 World Cup to be hosted by South Africa, the first by an African nation.

All this moves are bound to push the game to new heights and it behooves on us to turn things around.

Let us pray for the Black Stars as we prepare to play our first ever World Cup match against Italy on 12th June 2006 in Hanover.

The Black Stars need the support of you all.

Thank you very much

Cheers!!

8th June 2006