George Kwasi Afriyie, the owner and president of Ghanaian club Planners Athletic Club in Division Two, and a deputy president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) under the Kwesi Nyantakyi administration has stated that Ghana must effectively prepare for the World Cup in Qatar.
In November 2014, as the Black Stars made their third World Cup appearance, George Afriyie was appointed head of the Black Stars management committee.
Ohene Bampoe Brenya, the Happy FM sports anchor, chose the prudent decision to engage former Black Stars management committee chairman George Afriyie to explore an opportunity for African teams to break the quarter-finals jinx.
The 2022 World Cup commences on November 20, 2022, with 24 days to go. This has sparked the curiosity of many Ghanaians, particularly on various television and radio networks, and has invigorated supporters ahead of the tournament.
George Afriyie at the Happy FM studio, the former GFA Vice President emphasised the Black Stars’ preparation while discussing how the team, along with the other African representatives, will have to perform above their weight in Qatar because no African country had advanced past the round of eight in a World Cup.
Mr. Afriyie compared how seriously each qualifying country took the World Cup with teams from other continents, including Europe, South America, and, to a lesser extent, Asian nations.
He disclosed, “The premium other countries put on the World Cup is not the same when it comes to us African countries. In Ghana, for instance, whenever we are heading to such tournaments, we hear people complaining about the amounts we are going to invest and all just because we do not know the value of it.”
George Afriyie, who was defeated by Kurt Okraku for the position of Ghana Football Association president on October 25, 2019, posed a broad query on the Black Stars’ level of preparedness in comparison to the other teams in Group H.
He raised a question, “We as Africans, restricting it to West Africans especially, do not understand the value of the World Cup, because if we understood the value, we would invest and prepare well towards the World Cup, Ghana is expected to play Portugal, South Korea, and Uruguay. Can we compare our cost of preparation to the cost of these countries? Of course, we cannot. “
