Former Ghana Football Association (GFA) vice-president George Afriyie has questioned the Ghana Premier League’s ability to produce players capable of competing for places in the Black Stars.
Afriyie said the national team’s reliance on foreign-based players had exposed weaknesses in Ghana’s domestic football development system, particularly after several players withdrew from a recent international assignment.
Speaking on Ahenfie FM, he questioned why the technical team could not identify a single replacement from the domestic league after about nine players withdrew from a squad of approximately 24 players, 23 of whom were based abroad.
“Isn’t it strange that Ghana will call players about 24 for an assignment, and 23 of them are foreign-based, and about nine are withdrawn? We couldn’t have one single player from the local league to replace them,” Afriyie said.
He argued that the situation raised concerns about the quality of the domestic game and its capacity to prepare players for the senior national team.
“Then we must rightly admit that nothing is working right,” he added.
The former GFA vice-president also questioned the competitiveness of the 18-team Ghana Premier League, citing established clubs such as Hearts of Oak, Asante Kotoko, Bibiani Gold Stars and FC Samartex.
“Isn’t it strange that Ghana will call players about 24 for an assignment, and 23 of them are foreign-based, and about nine are withdrawn? We couldn’t have one single player from the local league to replace them,” Afriyie said.
He argued that the situation raised concerns about the quality of the domestic game and its capacity to prepare players for the senior national team.
“Then we must rightly admit that nothing is working right,” he added.
The former GFA vice-president also questioned the competitiveness of the 18-team Ghana Premier League, citing established clubs such as Hearts of Oak, Asante Kotoko, Bibiani Gold Stars and FC Samartex.
