By Philip ODURO
Ghana is a recognised football nation and an entertaining country to be. Football is now a great profession that every parent would like his/her ward to take up but there’s been a long-term observation in my community (Odorkor) about players moving out of line from their profession. These young football players between the ages of 24 to 30 are suspected of using drugs to enable them play the game.
The usage sees a spike when they enter their 30s. This is because they are mostly reprimanded by their coaches for not being able to play actively like how they used to play some years back. Hence, if they don’t take these drugs, they would not be selected even as substitutes.
In an interview with a footballer (name withheld), he said: “Sir, it is out of desperation that most of us take drugs to help us play well. There are no scouts for talented players here in our community. Players play with all their strength and coaches hail us as a form of encouragements and urge us on about scouts coming in anytime to selects us”.
Players hope to play internationally and when they realise they are growing yet there is no help, they then resort to hard drugs to help them play; but there is the strong risk of addiction.
Mohammed Shaban, a football analyst and expert, shared his take on the issue at hand. “I would say the youth or young players turn to hard drugs to be able to play active football because when we take Ghana into account, before a player comes to limelight, that player would have been old enough and wouldn’t have the energy required to play among the young and energetic crop of players of an opponent team.”
These hard drugs, when taken, help boost the players’ energy and allow them to play through pain and get the best for their teams. A coach, who wishes to remain anonymous, explained that the hope and expectation of these young men about opportunities outside the country are what keep them using these drugs to sustain a level of play. He told the story of a Black Stars player who visited his team.
“A Black Stars player (name withheld) who currently plays in England was my academy player who played in my team. He once came here to surprise the players and myself with jerseys, footballs, football boots and everything players need to train. He added quite an amount of money and most importantly, promised to come to Ghana with scouts to selects players of their interest in justifies. Yet it’s been three years and he cannot be reached.
“My players are still of the hope that the Black Stars player might come anytime sooner with scouts; hence, players whose ages are getting closer to the red line in football turn to drugs to enable them play active football. I have spoken to players on the health implications and have sacked some players from my team just to deter others from doing same; yet, some take these drugs without my notice nor the notice of their team mates and their parents.”
The situation is getting out of hand as some parents of these players are getting mad at these coaches, thinking they are the ones influencing their wards to take these drugs to help them play and win matches to their advantage – literally destroying their children.
“We need help in our community. We need good people to come for our children who play good football to play abroad. They can then play for the Black Stars of Ghana. If we don’t get good people like scouts to help our children, they will become drug addicts since the game of football has become their profession,” a parent noted.
>>>the writer is a student of University of Media Arts and Communication – Institute of Journalism (UniMAC-IJ). He can be reached via [email protected]
