Former Ghana Football Association (GFA) vice-president George Afriyie has raised concerns about the ability of the Ghana Premier League to develop players capable of competing for places in the senior national team, the Black Stars.
Afriyie believes the national team’s heavy reliance on foreign-based players highlights weaknesses in the domestic football system, particularly following the withdrawal of several players from a recent international assignment.
Speaking on Ahenfie FM, he questioned why the technical team could not call up a single player from the domestic league to replace some of the players who had withdrawn from the squad.
He noted that out of a squad of about 24 players, 23 were based abroad, yet the withdrawals of approximately nine players did not lead to the inclusion of a replacement from the Ghana Premier League.
“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strange that Ghana will call players about 24 for an assignment, and 23 of them are foreign-based, and about nine are withdrawn?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 serious questions about the quality of the domestic league and its ability to prepare players for international football.
“Then we must rightly admit that nothing is working right,” he added.
Afriyie also pointed to established Ghana Premier League clubs, including Hearts of Oak, Asante Kotoko, Bibiani Gold Stars and FC Samartex, questioning why their players were not considered suitable alternatives for the Black Stars.
According to him, the presence of 18 clubs competing throughout the season should provide a strong pool of talent for national team selection.
He maintained that the inability to identify even one suitable replacement from the domestic competition suggested that the foundations of Ghanaian football needed serious attention.
“Because if you have an 18-club league which comprises clubs like Hearts of Oak, Kotoko, Gold Stars, Samartex who play week in week out to get a single player to replace the nine players, then I don’t think that the foundation of our football is going well,” he said.
The former GFA vice-president further linked the situation to concerns about youth development and the administration of domestic football, stressing the need to strengthen the structures responsible for identifying and nurturing emerging talents.
He also questioned whether the league could effectively develop players if competition was influenced by personal relationships rather than merit.
“If we do a friends-and-cronies league, will we develop?” he asked.
Afriyie believes improving competitiveness in the Ghana Premier League and investing in youth development would expand the pool of players available to the Black Stars and provide the national team with stronger alternatives whenever foreign-based players are unavailable.
