Ghana’s women have won more trophies, yet men get more money – President Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has called for more support for women’s football in Ghana, saying the country’s female teams have achieved more success than the men but have not received the same level of attention and investment.

The President made the remarks at Jubilee House on Tuesday when Medeama, Nations FC and Ampem Darkoa Ladies visited him to present trophies they won during the last football season.

The three clubs were invited to the seat of government after their successes in Ghanaian football and their qualification to represent the country in continental competitions.

While congratulating the clubs, President Mahama used the occasion to speak about some of the problems he believes continue to affect Ghanaian football, including the development of young players, the early departure of talented footballers, refereeing and the lack of proper sporting facilities in some parts of the country.

Mahama says women’s football deserves more support

President Mahama said Ghana has enjoyed considerable success in women’s football, yet female teams have not received the same level of support as men’s teams.

He believes this needs to change, particularly as Ghanaian women continue to bring trophies and strong performances to the country.

“We’ve done much better in women’s soccer than in men’s soccer. Our women have won more trophies for us than men and yet we put all the money in men’s soccer.”

He said the situation should be looked at through the idea of affirmative action so that women’s football teams can receive the support they need to grow.

The President also praised the representative of Ampem Darkoa Ladies after she made a presentation during the ceremony.

He said the presentation was a reminder that women in football should be given more opportunities and support.

“Even today you can see the discrimination. Ampem Darkoa were here. He just ignored them and was going to go ahead. If I had not intervened, he would have. And look at how the presentation she made. Very eloquent presentation.”

He then called for more attention to be given to women’s football.

“And so in the spirit of affirmative action, we must look at the women’s soccer teams and also help to bring them up.”

President wants the return of Colts football

President Mahama also raised concerns about the development of young footballers in Ghana.

He said the country used to have a strong Colts league that helped identify and develop young talent, but he questioned what had happened to the system.

According to him, Ghana needs to bring back a strong grassroots football structure if the country wants to continue producing talented players.

“One is catching young talents. We used to have a very good Colts league. I don’t know what happened to it.”

He asked the Ghana Football Association about plans to bring back the system.

“I know there’s an FA representative here. Are you going to resuscitate the Colts league?”

When the term “grassroots soccer” was mentioned, President Mahama said there was nothing wrong with returning to the name that Ghanaians had known for many years.

“So call it Colts league and let’s all help to sponsor it.”

He also encouraged people to support young teams in their communities, saying individuals could contribute to teams in their constituencies and hometowns.

The President believes a strong youth football system would help Ghana discover players early and give them the proper training before they move to bigger clubs.

Mahama wants Ghana to stop losing young talents too early

Another concern raised by the President was the number of young Ghanaian players who leave the local league soon after showing signs of talent.

He said clubs and football authorities need to find a way to keep promising players in Ghana for a little longer so they can gain more experience.

“The second one is we’re too fast to sell our players. As soon as a player starts to show some promise, the scouts pick him and take him away.”

President Mahama said the early movement of young players was weakening the local league because some of the country’s most promising talents leave before they have fully developed.

“And so it depletes the local league because every small talent that shows some brilliance is spirited away to mostly the European leagues.”

He believes young players should be given more opportunities to play for Ghana’s national teams before making the move abroad.

“And so we must see how we can keep them a bit longer. You understand? At least give them opportunities in the national team so that they get experience in playing on the international platform.”

According to him, allowing players to mature before moving abroad could benefit both the players and Ghanaian football.

He said local and international scouts could then take players when they had reached a stronger level of development.

Mahama says poor refereeing is hurting Ghana football

The President also spoke strongly about refereeing, describing it as one of the problems affecting Ghana’s football league.

He said there is a growing belief among supporters that some matches are decided before the teams even take to the pitch.

“Unfortunately, refereeing is one of the things that is destroying our soccer.”

President Mahama said this perception is damaging the competitiveness of the league and making some supporters lose interest in attending matches.

“The matches are played before they are played and everybody knows for every match there’s a way it’s been decided. It makes the league not competitive because the match has been played already. Somebody has won. So what’s the youth going to play the match anyway?”

He said the Ghana Football Association and the Ghana Referees Association must work together to improve the standard and credibility of officiating.

“And so both the Ghana Referees Association and the FA should look to see how we can improve refereeing.”

The President believes supporters need to feel that matches are being handled fairly, regardless of which team they support.

“A lot of the spectators have abandoned going to watch matches because they believe that the matches are decided before even they go to play the match.”

He linked this to falling attendance and reduced gate revenue for clubs.

“Spectator numbers are dwindling. Gate fee proceeds are going down. It’s in our interest to make the league competitive.”

He said every team should enter a match believing it has a fair chance of winning.

“The matches must be tough. Everybody must leave feeling that, you know, there was a neutral referee and that whoever won won.”

Ten new stadia planned

President Mahama also announced plans for the construction of new sporting facilities in parts of Ghana that currently do not have standard stadia.

He said the government has recognised that many regions do not have facilities that can properly support football, athletics and other sports.

“One of the things government has a responsibility for is to provide sporting facilities so that all regions of this country can have good sporting facilities.”

According to the President, some of the regions created under Ghana’s previous administrative expansion do not have stadia, while some older facilities also need major rehabilitation.

He said the 2026 budget includes funding for 10 new stadia.

“We used to have 10 regions, but some regions did not have standard stadia. And then we also created six new regions that do not have stadia. And so in this year’s budget, the Minister of Finance is making allocation for the building of 10 new stadia.”

The regions he mentioned are Oti, Western North, Ahafo, Bono East, Savannah, North East, Bono, Upper East and Upper West, with Ho also set to receive major work on its existing stadium.

The President said the new facilities will not only be for football.

“This would include football pitches. It will also include athletics tracks and then it will also include the lesser sports. So volleyball, basketball and all those other sports will also have facilities in the stadium.”

He also said the Ho Sports Stadium, which is currently in poor condition, will be refurbished.

“Ho has a sports stadium but it’s rundown and so for Ho the whole sports stadium is going to be refurbished and almost built afresh into a new stadium.”

Government wants to support other sports

President Mahama said Ghana also needs to invest more in sports outside football and boxing.

He noted that Ghana often sends its strongest teams to major international competitions in only a few sports, while other countries develop athletes in a much wider range of disciplines.

“We also believe that we should put more money into the lesser sports.”

He pointed to sports such as fencing, judo and ice skating as areas where Ghana could develop athletes capable of winning medals at major competitions.

“There are many of these lesser sports where we go for Olympics and things mostly we are just looking at soccer and boxing.”

The President said Ghana could do better at international competitions if the country identified and developed talent across more sporting disciplines.

“And so we too, the fencing and all those little sports, we must try and develop the talents in them.”

He said the government intends to use the Sports Development Fund to support the development of these sports when the fund becomes fully operational.

“So if the Sports Development Fund is fully operational, we’ll make sure that we invest money in those areas too.”

President presents financial support to the clubs

The ceremony also came with financial support for the three clubs following their achievements.

President Mahama announced that Medeama would receive GH¢342,000, which he said was equivalent to US$30,000.

The money is expected to help the club with expenses connected to its continental campaign.

“Medeama and you get it’s equivalent of USD but we don’t spend dollars in Ghana so it’s we’ve made it in cedis so it’s 342,000 Ghana cedis, which is equivalent to $30,000. At least he can pay the hotel meals.”

Nations FC was allocated GH¢228,000, equivalent to US$20,000.

“The next one is Nations FC. It’s 228,000 cedis equivalent to $20,000.”

Ampem Darkoa Ladies, who President Mahama had earlier praised for their achievements in women’s football, were allocated GH¢114,000, equivalent to US$10,000.

“And last but not the least, actually I should have started with the women. They are doing better. Ampem Darkoa Ladies Football Club, you have 114,000 cedis equivalent to $10,000 US.”

The allocations are intended to support the clubs as they prepare for their continental assignments.

Mahama tells clubs to restore Ghana’s football glory

The President ended his message by wishing the clubs well in their upcoming competitions and urging them to help Ghana regain some of the reputation the country once enjoyed in African football.

“I want to wish you well in your outing. Go recapture the glory days of Ghana soccer.”

He also spoke about the pride that comes with seeing Ghanaian clubs become known outside the country.

“I want that in future I’ll go somewhere and they say I’m from Ghana. Then they say, ‘Oh, Medeama,’ and I’ll say, ‘Oh yeah, yeah, I’m from Ghana.'”

For Medeama, Nations FC and Ampem Darkoa Ladies, the next challenge will be to turn their domestic success into strong performances on the continental stage.

For Ghanaian football as a whole, President Mahama’s comments have also reopened a wider discussion about how the country develops young players, keeps talented footballers in the domestic league, improves refereeing and provides facilities for both football and other sports.

His call for greater investment in women’s football is particularly notable as Ghana’s female teams continue to compete for honours at continental and international level.

The success of clubs such as Ampem Darkoa Ladies shows what is possible when women’s football receives sustained attention, while the President’s comments suggest that more support could be directed towards the women’s game in the years ahead.

The bigger test, however, will be whether the concerns raised at Jubilee House lead to changes on the ground, from youth football and refereeing to stadium development and support for sports beyond the country’s biggest games.

Watch the President Speak below