Suley Ali Muntari
One of the headlines for the Black Stars at South Africa 2010 was an incident many described as a discipline problem in their camp, and it was a case involving Ghana and Internationale (Inter) Milan midfielder, Sulley Ali Muntari.
After the 1-1 drawn Ghana-Australia match, according to reports, Muntari spoke out and openly blamed Coach Milovan Rajevac for the poor performance of the Stars in that game.
Almost every sports journalist and social commentator, including pastors and even public officials, put Muntari’s attitude down to downright disrespect. He has done it several times in the past, they said, and, each time, when the coach punished him Ghana Football Association (GFA) officials pleaded to make him stay on the team.
It is weeks since the Black Stars returned, but no one that I hear is talking about the Case called Muntari.
But Ti-Kelenkelen is not surprised, because human beings are interesting beings. When our expectations, short or high, are met we easily forget the problems of the journey; in disappointment, however, we are nursing hurt and are wont to look for scapegoats rather than indulge in genuine assessment to arrive at proper diagnosis.
And we have chosen the first scenario, because, it appears, our expectations–of under-achievement–were met in South Africa.
But the Case called Muntari is doing brutal kinetic motion in my big head, because it is pregnant with the sort of attainable aspirations that set individuals and nations apart. And if we want all the good things in life, we need to take apply in our lives certain basic factors. Two of such factors are discipline and fair criticism even if it is scathing. If we substitute one for the other or, in the worse scenario, abandon both, we short-change ourselves and jeopardize our progress and future.
Today, the soccer maestro, Abedi Pele, has done well for himself. He owns a football club, Nania FC; his male children are all professional footballers, and; he is a FIFA certified official of the game. I even hear some people are thinking of putting him up for the top job at CAF. Yet, truth be told, Abedi Pele’s tenure as captain of the Black Stars, was one of the most inglorious.
I can see some readers scoffing already. And I appreciate that, because we have a sociological problem of a general inability to tell a person the truth about himself/herself even if we must do it in good faith without insults, and it is more so if the subject is a so-called “big” person.
But trust Ti-Kelenkelen to call the creature by name, if the ultimate beneficiary is the progressive interest of the state or people.
Abedi Pele’s tenure as captain of the Black Stars was one of the most inglorious not because the team failed to win any goldware, but because his leadership style caused within the national team a rift grander than the Rift Valley of East Africa.
Who has forgotten the much-written about Abedi Pele-Tony Yeboah rift? It was as real as day follows night. I do not know the state of affairs between the two now, but the rumours were very true then. And for reasons already stated above, top officials tried to push the public-relations-crafted scenario that all was well.
When he was captain of the Stars, Abedi Pele courted the affection of officials of the GFA, National Sports Council (NSC) and the Ministry of Sports. Indeed, reports have it that, the situation was so bad that where he had to choose between colleague players’ welfare and the official affection he was courting he chose the latter.
Tony Yeboah, on the other hand, had no qualms about speaking out about such a divisive leadership style, and the team was thus split in two behind them.
In those days some officials at the GFA, NSC and Ministry of Sports were infected with greed steeper than bile, and the rift in the Black Stars played right into their hands. The result: The welfare of our players was grossly neglected to the point of an epidermic. Yes, it was that serious!
According to reports, when companies made donations of food items to the Black Stars, officials could – believe it or not – take away almost everything; it was so because there were too many officials associated with the team and each wanted to profit at its expense. The entire situation was so bad that morale in camp was constantly low. Sometimes, we heard, Tony Yeboah dipped his hand into his pocket to give money to home-based players. Sports officials asked Diaspora-based players to buy their own tickets when coming on national assignment on the promise that the amount will be refunded to them once they get here. But the officials simply pocketed the fares, meaning the players financed their own trips to come and play for their country.
In those days, Yeboah – like Abedi Pele – was one of the few pre-eminent strikers in the world, so the GFA could not sack him. To explain away the impasse in Black Stars camp, however, the GFA, through some journalists, spread the rumour that the problem was a tussle over captainship and that Yeboah is a villain. But nothing was farther from the truth – the impasse was over the welfare of the players.
To fast-forward, Nii Odartey Lamptey was later cast in the same mould as Yeboah, and kicked out of the Black Stars when he complained about the behavior and fraud of officials.
But no, Ti-Kelenkelen is not suggesting that GFA officials sided with Muntari in South Africa, because he is on the side of GFA officials. My point is this: Those who speak out against the mistakes of persons in top positions suffer for saying the truth; it is easy to brand such a truth-speaking critic as undisciplined, and make a funny logical linkage to the fact that indiscipline is contagious if it goes immediately-unchecked.
All those who know Muntari know he speaks his mind and is rarely inhibited in showing his true feelings. That is why on the field he will not trip a player – beyond what is allowed by the rules of the game, – but when a player does that to him, he will apply the Moses Canon. Hence the many red cards he gets.
Even when his game goes down and people are beginning to write him off, Muntari is able to pull something fresh out of himself to show he still has it. Nevertheless, Ti-Kelenkelen must call the creature by name by stating that the red cards are a minus to his otherwise great game. It is just to be out-spoken and strict in exacting retribution, but it is better to match that hand-in-hand with a good sense of timing to act upon such urges.
Still, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Muntari voices truth that almost everyone else is afraid to mention let alone talk about. During the qualification series last year, when the Black Stars were in camp in Kumasi, we were told Muntari had been sacked because he brought his girlfriend into camp. Later the truth came out that an official had told the players they will get less than the winning bonus they were promised, and Muntari said, “No way!”
Muntari had the courage to openly confront a lying, cheating, volte-faced official, so they had to make him out a villain. Even if he did bring his girlfriend into camp as alleged, note that no one said anything until he had the courage to say “No” to official cheating of our players.
During South Africa 2010, initial reports said Muntari had blamed the coach to his face for the poor performance of the Stars in the Ghana-Australia 1-1 match.
Looking into the pot Ti-Kelenkelen could see fathom that after the Black Stars had drawn that game, GFA officials were angry and the players unhappy. But it was Muntari who had the courage to say the coach did not do a good job on that occasion. That, most probably, explains why the officials pleaded on Muntari’s behalf to make him stay with the team; he said what they wished they could have said.
When Rajevac did not listen to Muntari, we lost the game against Germany, and if Serbia had beaten Australia it would have been them rather than us playing the US in the Round of 16. When Rajevac listened to Muntari, we beat the US, 2-1 again.
This is Ti-Kelenkelen’s position: Muntari’s forthrightness and unforgiving attitude could be fundamental grounds for concern, but in the name of progress, let us give him credit for taking the courage to say what is right in the way of the progressive interest of the state; especially when he did it in camp, away from the cameras.
If Yaa Asantewaa had not had the courage to speak out and give the British war when Sir Hodgson insulted Asanteman in 1900, another Briton would have come up to repeat the same stupid mistake. If one of the greatest statesmen/freedom fighters of all time, Madiba, Nelson Mandela, had lost his courage to be strong in the face of the worst adversity, Apartheid would not have given in sooner.
Regrettably, if over the last 53 years, (especially over the last 18,) our public officials had had Muntari’s kind of courage in speaking the truth and holding accountable their contemporaries and even those higher, Ghana would today have a better governance system, and our financial situation would be a million times better.