Candid Corner: What about the forgotten athletes?

By a commendable act of political courage, the government last week laid to rest a phantom that has been stalking the football realm of this country since 1963.

The issue of successive governments since the First Republic having failed to honour promises made to members of the triumphant Black Stars of 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982 through the years had become a festering sore that threatened to deform the beauty of our football.

I have always believed that if  the Nkrumah and Acheampong governments had stayed a little longer in office, they would have fulfilled their promises to the 1963, 1965 and 1978 Black Stars respectively. Others were not too interested in sports and so didn’t give a damn about what became of its development.

There is no doubt that some governments in the past didn’t see the need to place sports on the same scale as other matters of state. This resulted in sports being relegated to the background, amid the consequences of plummeting fortunes.

In all probability, this attitude of some governments towards sports is what informed the lukewarm handling of the unfulfilled promise issue for years. It’s better late than never, for which reason the government must be applauded for stepping in to ensure the closure of a matter that caused unspeakable pain to many heroes of our time.

The presentation of GH¢1.7m to the squads of 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982 definitely marks the end of a dark chapter in the history of Ghana football. While the occasion calls for celebration, it also raises serious questions about how countless athletes have, for years on end, been abandoned to a fate similar to the soul-breaking experience of the old Black Stars until ‘’manna’’ fell from heaven last week without national concern.

Celebrated athletes like B.K. Mends, Rose Hart and many others had to put up with very distressing conditions in their last days on earth before they exited, probably with the words “is Ghana worth dying for?’’ on their lips.

Anytime I meet the great Mike Ahey and Ohene Karikari at functions, I can’t help asking myself whether the country is waiting for them to pass on before we think of honouring them. 

They may have been presented with certificates and citations at state functions, but can that alone ameliorate the sorry conditions they find themselves in?

Most of the ex-athletes who find themselves in dire straits now gave their all in service to this country in their youth and so must not be abandoned in their times of need. Even if no government made them promises in the past, the truth must be told that the ex-athletes deserve something far better than whatever we think we have done for them.

Need we be told that before the Black Stars won laurels for this country, Ike Quartey Snr and others had done us proud by winning medals at the highest level in sports? 

We may not have the same passion that sometimes drives us to great lengths to do all sorts of things for football for athletics, but that need not blind us to the truth of what honour this country has benefited from athletics in terms of honour and fame.

At this moment Ghana is savouring the historic pride of 17-year-old Martha Bissah winning gold at the just-ended Youth Olympics at Nanjing in China. Receiving the little heroine and her parents at the Flagstaff House last Monday, President John Mahama said ‘’if we invested proportionately in the other sports to what we invest in football, we would be seeing more gold medals than we have currently seen.’’ The truth, nothing but the truth, is what the number one citizen of the land has said.

One can only hope that hence forward we will see a fundamental change in official attitude towards all sports other than football. That’s the way to go if we are desirous of producing more Martha Bissahs.

The political courage that underlined the decision to honour the promise to the old Black Stars should provide the needed stimulus to do something equally commendable for the retired athletes who have been crying for far too long in the wilderness.

Where there is a will, there is always a way. Let’s do it for the old athletes too.