BY ISSAH OLEGOR
The Ghana Football Association has rejected growing suggestions that the early elimination of Medeama SC and Nations FC from CAF inter-club competitions exposes the Ghana Premier League as a weak domestic competition.
Medeama, the reigning Ghana Premier League champions, were knocked out of the CAF Champions League after suffering a 4-1 aggregate defeat to five-time African champions TP Mazembe. Nations FC, meanwhile, followed them out of continental competition after losing 2-1 on aggregate to Mali’s FC Diarra in the CAF Confederation Cup.
The back-to-back exits have inevitably raised questions about the strength of Ghanaian club football and whether domestic champions are adequately prepared for the demands of continental competition.
However, GFA Communications Director Henry Asante Twum has strongly rejected the argument that the results should automatically be interpreted as a reflection of the quality of the Ghana Premier League.
Using Paris Saint-Germain’s dominance of French football as an example, Asante Twum argued that success or failure by individual clubs in continental competition cannot be used as a direct measurement of the strength of an entire domestic league.
“PSG have won the UCL back-to-back, but Ligue 1 is not the best league in the world or even the best in Europe. So why should someone say the performances of Medeama SC and Nations FC in Africa demonstrate how weak the GPL is? This is simply not a fact,” he told Akoma FM.
He also pointed to Hearts of Oak’s historic dominance of African football as evidence that domestic league quality and continental success should not necessarily be treated as the same thing.
“When Hearts of Oak were dominating Africa, was the Ghana Premier League the best? The answer is no. People should stop making such easy conclusions,” he added.
According to the GFA official, the more significant issue could be the lack of regular continental exposure and experience among Ghanaian clubs.
He argued that a team winning the domestic league and subsequently struggling in Africa does not automatically mean the league is poor, but may instead indicate that the club itself has not developed the experience required to compete against stronger and more established continental opponents.
“If Samartex or Medeama wins the league and then exits the African competition, does that mean the league is weak or bad? No. Rather, it could mean the team lacks the African exposure and experience needed to compete at that level,” Asante Twum said.
Medeama must now put their continental disappointment behind them and turn their attention to the defence of their Ghana Premier League title, beginning with their encounter against Vision FC.
