Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Adams has warned that Ghana cannot rely on hope alone if it wants to develop its football system to compete with the world’s leading nations.

Addressing delegates at the Ghana Football Association’s (GFA) 32nd Ordinary Congress at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram on Thursday, August 20, Mr Adams urged football stakeholders to adopt a more structured and intentional approach to developing the game.

His remarks come amid ongoing concerns about the competitiveness and appeal of the Ghana Premier League ahead of the new season.

The minister pointed to countries such as Morocco and South Africa as examples of nations that have invested in systems capable of delivering sustained success.

“Sometimes I don’t want to mention names, but it is important to mention names. We can be competing with systems that have been put in place, as you have in Morocco, maybe you have in South Africa, and just hoping,” Mr Adams said.

He stressed that football development policies and decisions approved by stakeholders must be implemented effectively if Ghana is to make meaningful progress.

“We must make sure the documents you approve here are implemented, and we don’t have any other person to do so but us,” he added.

Mr Adams called on the GFA, clubs and other stakeholders to move away from leaving football development to chance and instead focus on building systems that can consistently identify, nurture and transition talent.

“The world has changed. Talent identification is deliberate. Coaching is deliberate. Sports science is deliberate. Competition exposure is deliberate. Player data is deliberate. Transition is deliberate. Everything is deliberate.

“We cannot compete with deliberate systems through hope. No. We cannot hope to achieve what others have done,” the Buem MP added.