Ghana football sets the pace for reforms

Ghana football is set for reforms after the Football Association's (GFA) presidential elections this week.

The executive committee of the GFA gave a resounding acclamation to incumbent Kwesi Nyantakyi as president of the federation for another four-year term.

Nyantakyi's 10-year term has chalked some successes, including but not limited to three successive appearances at the FIFA World Cup and Africa's only U-20 World Cup title in Egypt in 2009.

Over the past 10 years, Ghana's national teams - both male and female - have qualified for their respective World Cup competitions.

The Black Stars remain Ghana's flagship brand thanks to the stability brought into the team over the period.

However, the era of Nyantakyi, who is also an executive committee member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), is faced with a lot of criticisms and bad press concerning his administration style.

A new term in office gives the GFA the chance to fix its shortcomings and set new milestones to put the game on a stronger footing in Ghana.

Nyantakyi is not oblivious of the huge challenges facing his third term administration and has outlined a number of reforms to meet the challenges that Ghana football faces on Saturday.

Women football has received a lot of support over the years though not as huge as their male counterpart.

But there has been some improvements in the women's game and Nyantakyi promises to continue to work hard and raise both the level of interest and standard in girls' and women's football as Ghana strives to be the best in Africa.

In addition, the Ghana FA plans to tap into the expertise of the big women football countries on the implementation of a long-term plan aimed at enhancing the development of women's football in Ghana.

Ghana already has a partnership with China to share the expertise in developing women's football in the two countries.

"As part of our ongoing efforts to expand the interest and participation rate in women's football as well as to develop the footballing skills of girls from a young age, we will establish the 'Live Your Goals Campaign' for girls in schools and communities," Nyantakyi told the media after his re-election.

The development of football infrastructure will be key in the next four years as the GFA has programmed to construct good pitches up and down the country.

Players of the national teams will play key roles for a good national cause for both the general good of Ghanaians and the less privileged in society.

Nyantakyi's vision is to pass on a federation that is effective, respected and admired around the world for its achievements both on and off the field. Endi