Former Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Dr. Nyaho Nyaho‑Tamakloe, has sparked debate by linking the Black Stars’ poor showing at the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup to age fraud. He argued that the entrenched reliance on so‑called “football ages” has weakened the team’s competitiveness.
Speaking to Graphic Sports yesterday, Dr. Nyaho‑Tamakloe said many players had become physically rigid and were unable to meet the demands of modern international football. “Age has affected most of our players. We must stop the football age thing and be sincere with ourselves because it is affecting us,” he stated.
He emphasised that transparency about players’ ages is crucial for the future of Ghanaian football, insisting that older players should step aside for younger talents. “Age must be taken seriously in our football. When a player has reached the appropriate age, he must make way for younger ones to take over,” he added.
Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe lamented the current state of Ghana football, describing the country’s football development as falling short of the standards needed to compete consistently at the highest level. According to him, Ghana can only reclaim its place among the continent’s football powerhouses by rebuilding the game from the grassroots through strategic planning and sustained investment in youth development.
“If we want to achieve anything in football, we must plan and organise from the grassroots. We must identify and develop more local talent,” he said. The former GFA president also called on Ghana to adopt the Moroccan model of football development, which he said had transformed Morocco into one of the world’s emerging football powers.
He explained that Morocco’s success was the result of long-term planning, with talented players identified at an early age and systematically nurtured into elite footballers.
“We must adopt the Moroccan strategy,” he said, adding that many of the teams excelling at the World Cup had youthful squads developed through deliberate long-term planning. Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe further expressed concern over what he described as the loss of Ghana’s football identity, urging the technical handlers to restore the country’s traditional style of play. “Our style of football has disappeared, and it must be brought back. We must be aggressive,” he said.
Source: Peter Sarbah
