Former Sports Minister, Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye has bemoaned the retrogression of women’s football in Ghana.
His comments come on the back of the Black Queens’ absence from the ongoing Women’s World Cup in New Zealand & Australia.
The Women’s World Cup began with five representatives from Africa – Morocco, Zambia, Nigeria and South Africa – although all five have exited the competition.
The Queens, currently managed by Nora Häuptle, are in a transformation phase but have won all five games since she took over.
They are set to face Rwanda next in the upcoming women’s African Cup of Nations qualifiers in September.
In an interview with Citi Sports, Nii Lante Vanderpuye voiced out his frustration at the dip in the level of quality of women’s football in the country.
“We are not doing what we are supposed to do. If you get the fundamentals wrong, you will always be wrong.”
“The good thing for me is, when it comes to football, there are best practices all over the world which we can look at.”
“Look at the performance of the African teams at the World Cup, and tell me why Ghana is not participating.”
“When women’s football started, it was just Ghana and Nigeria.”
“Today, Morocco is participating in the world cup, and Zambia participated.”
“That should tell you that there are some people doing things right, but Ghana isn’t.”
“Morocco, who by their culture and tradition, women are not even supposed to be exposed to such things, are now playing football and qualified for the tournament.”
“We don’t build on the past appearances at major tournaments. What have we done? Nothing.”
“Other countries have now progressed with their football and today they are beating us at tournaments.”
Ghana’s last participation in the Women’s World Cup was in the 2007 edition hosted by China.
The Black Queens failed to progress out of a group which consisted of Norway, Australia and Canada
The Queens conceded 15 goals and scored just 3 in all three group games under the guidance of former Coach Isaac Paha.
Paha was sacked by the Football Association following the abysmal display at the tournament in China.
The Queens have, since then, not qualified for the global tournament in the last decade, with rivals Nigeria proving to be a tough nut to crack for Ghana’s senior female team in the qualifiers.