Ghana FA Struggling To Lure Players To The Black Stars Due To Negative Comments On Social Media – Fred Pappoe

The former Ghana Football Association Vice president Fred Pappoe says negative comments on social media regarding Black Stars is to be blamed on the FA’s inability to persuade Ghanaian players from other nations to join the team.

Pappoe, who is currently a part of the Black Stars management committee, said there are challenges to attract some best Ghanaian talent from abroad to the Black Stars due to the effect of negative publicity about the team’s image on social media.

“People are at liberty to express their views on social media and consistently advise the players not to come and play for Ghana. All these things are bound to have effects on them,” Pappoe, also a former GFA vice president told Joy Sports.

I am sure you’ve seen a lot of those comments on social media, all over the place. We read all those things, we see all those things, and I’m sure the boys also read all those things.

In the 2006 era to 2010, almost all the boys who played in that category were more than willing to come and play for the Black Stars. We have Hans Adu Sarpei, Francis Dickoh, Otto Addo, Alex Tachie-Mensah and the rest.

There was this very swift winger we had a very solid tug-of-war with Germany over, eventually he went to play for the Germans – [David] Odonkor. I remember we were at one friendly match and he was even in our camp in Germany to visit the team and the rest. So the team was attractive because we were playing well.”

Despite the difficulties, the country has not been a disaster for Ghana with players like the French-born center-back Alexander Djiku and Germany-born winger Daniel-Kofi Kyereh have recently teamed up in the Black Stars to face Zimbabwe in 2022 in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday.

In the past, such players as Jeffrey Schlupp, Andy Yiadom, Caleb Ekuban, and Emmanuel Gyasi also had the possibility of playing in different countries when they decided to make an international move with those of the West Africans.

“Naturally after a spell of time where things have been a bit turbulent, it doesn’t make the team attractive,” Pappoe added.

Also sometimes some of the commentary we hear or that these boys are exposed to will naturally not make the team an attractive place to come in.

But there are still some who are ready and positive and willing to come. Let’s say kudos to players like Alex Djiku, players like [Daniel-Kofi] Kyereh from Darmstadt, Manaf [Abdul Nurudeen] and a few other players who the FA is still working hard to get them to come on board.

At the end of the day, we must all remember that the team is our team. If it’s attractive like the golden years, we were all happy. So whatever we can do in our small way to make the team an attractive place, I believe we all have a responsibility to do that.”