The former board chairman of Asante Kotoko Herbert Mensah has keenly condemned the significant financial investments made into the Black Stars and other sports in Ghana, calling attention to the lack of substantial returns. He stated that large sums of taxpayers' money have been wasted over the years, specifically on the senior men's national football team, which has failed to deliver meaningful achievements for over four decades.
Mensah expressed his frustration over the country’s decline as a sporting power and urged for a thorough review of the funds allocated to the Black Stars for major tournaments, such as the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in an interview he had with Joy News. He stressed that spending vast amounts of national resources without any tangible results is no longer justifiable. “We need to look inward,” Mensah said, lamenting that Ghana, once a prominent force in sports, has lost that reputation. He pointed out that taxpayers' money has been squandered in various international sporting events, including the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, and the AFCON.
Mensah emphasized that the money spent on football, often referred to as the "political sport," cannot be justified given the Black Stars' poor performance. The team’s failure to win the continental title for 42 years, with their last AFCON victory in 1982, is a central point of Mensah’s critique. Moreover, Ghana’s inability to qualify for the 2025 AFCON in Morocco after a disappointing qualifying campaign—where they secured only three points from six games in Group F, drawing three times and losing three times to Angola, Niger, and Sudan—only deepened his concerns.
While his criticism focuses heavily on football, Mensah’s comments reflect a broader issue within Ghanaian sports. Other disciplines have also faced consistent decline, further underscoring the need for a reassessment of the country's sporting priorities. Mensah’s call for a review of sports funding in Ghana highlights a growing frustration with the ongoing lack of progress, urging a fresh approach to restore the nation's sporting success.
In summary, Herbert Mensah’s critique sheds light on the growing dissatisfaction with the management of sports investments in Ghana. His calls for a careful examination of how national resources are allocated to sporting endeavours underscore the urgent need for change to regain Ghana’s former sporting stature.
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