Celebrated broadcast journalist Saddick Adams, popularly known as Sports Obama, has stated vehemently that Ghana’s current Sports and Recreational Minister, Kofi Adams, does not understand football as a sporting discipline.
He explained that the minister’s actions and inactions, particularly the interviews he conducts, point to the fact that he lacks expertise in the sector he is heading.
Among these was his pronouncement that Ghana’s Black Stars had a team capable of winning the 2026 World Cup.
Sports Obama, however, admitted that although he perceived the minister’s statement as showing less knowledge of the sport, he added that he feels saddened by such developments, as people with ignorance about the discipline have dominated the sector in recent times.
“Whenever I see these Sports Ministers, I become saddened because none of them understands football. So my brother [Kofi Adams] would go and sit on national television and pronounce that Ghana has a team to win the World Cup; don’t do that.
“When I heard him making that statement, I said to myself, he does not understand football. But… he is a government appointee. If he had knowledge about the game, he wouldn’t have made that statement,” he added.
He suggested that the minister take a holistic approach by going to the grassroots and conducting proper findings on why the country’s national youth teams have failed to perform at the highest level.
“If you are a Sports Minister, go to the root. Find out why our best players from U-14, U-15, U-16 are not playing in the national U-17 teams. Ghana’s strength has always been with the youth – all the trophies we have won are basically from the youth,” he emphasized.
