The Black Stars’ inability to earn a spot in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) competition has prompted former Youth and Sports Minister Elvis Afriyie Ankrah to ask for forgiveness.
Ghana had three points after six games, three draws, and three losses, placing them at the bottom of Group F.
For the first time in two decades, the Black Stars will not participate in the AFCON tournament, which will be held in Morocco the following year.
Speaking on GHOne TV, Afriyie Ankrah begged for forgiveness in spite of the team’s inability to qualify for the tournament, despite requests to disband the playing body and technical team.
“I think that as a country, we never actually exorcised the issues that came about during the 2014 World Cup,” he said.
“I think that there was too much focus on the drama. Of course, when issues happen, it’s news. But the root causes were not dealt with. So, I think that as a country, we need to forgive them; we need to let them go. I know what I’m talking about. Any adult person will understand what I’m saying. As a country, we need to let them go.”
“You see, the coach said something; nobody has paid attention to it. He said part of the reason why they lost the Niger match was because of the hatred of Ghanaians towards him and the team. And people didn’t pay attention to that. Now, that has a lot of implications, even for him.
“But if you want to look at it from that perspective, when I watched Kudus going to play the penalty, what were the chants? Away, away. So there’s a disconnection somewhere in the country. Every nation has a soul.”
The four-time champions will now turn their attention to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in March 2025 with games against Chad and Madagascar.
