WORLD STAGE: The Biggest Difference Between Covering Football In Ghana And Overseas

For most football fans, a World Cup is about the goals, the celebrations and the heartbreak. For sports journalist Godfred Akoto, it is also about seeing how the game is run behind the scenes and the contrast between Ghana and the world’s football powers could not be starker.

Speaking on Kafui Dey’s podcast, Akoto reflected on covering Ghana at the FIFA World Cup and said reporting on football abroad reveals just how much planning, professionalism and structure exist outside Ghana.

He explained that while Ghana often focuses almost exclusively on the Black Stars whenever a major tournament arrives, countries with successful football systems invest continuously in grassroots development long before the national team takes the field.

According to him, governments elsewhere understand that elite football is only the final product of years of investment.

“You go to England, Germany or Morocco and you see governments investing significantly in grassroots sports, coaching and infrastructure,” he said.

Instead of concentrating only on the senior national team, Akoto believes successful football nations ensure young players have quality facilities, organised competitions and a clear pathway to professional football.

By contrast, he argued, Ghana’s political class often becomes visible only when the Black Stars qualify for major tournaments.

“Everybody suddenly finds their passport and jersey when the World Cup comes,” he observed.

Most of those officials, he argued, rarely visit community football grounds or youth teams during the years when future Black Stars players are actually being developed.

“The work is not at the Black Stars level. The work is at the base.”

For Akoto, covering football internationally has reinforced one lesson: successful national teams are built years before the cameras begin rolling.