When Pep Talk Turns Sour

Deputy sports Minister, Joseph Yammin, did not help the cause of soccer in the country and national cohesion when he visited the Black stars prior to their engagement with the Zambians and fouled the camp with a politically divisive remark. Although the Black Stars were victorious in yesterday�s encounter, the deputy minister�s pep talk by all standards did not contribute to the triumph. It was, indeed, anything but supportive of national cohesion especially at a time when the country is suffering the negative effects of polarization. He is reported to have thrown politics into the camp when he referred to statistics of the Black Stars World Cup appearances under various political administrations and landing on a certain 2-1 for one of the political parties. If he intended it to be a pep-talk for the young Ghanaians ready to go into an international soccer duel, he missed the point. For the purposes of sanctity in international soccer, let the deputy minister be mindful of his words and how he delivers these when addressing sportsmen and women who belong to different political parties anyway. When it comes to international sporting duels, members of the teams are nationals of this great country, totally apolitical. ontaminating sporting camps with the divisive contagion of politics as the deputy minister did, does not help the efforts at de-polarising the country at this time of her development. It is only when such international sporting fiestas take place that we are somewhat able to push to the backburners albeit temporarily, the dangerous polarization contagion which has afflicted the country. We were not surprised when the deputy minister�s gaffe made the headline for one of Accra�s newspapers and attracted negative reviews on the airwaves. Coming out of a disturbing election petition hearing whose outcome ironically has widened the political chasm, such avoidable remarks should not be encouraged especially in sports. When Ghana meets other nations in sports, the polarization evaporates and citizens are united under the banner of Ghana. When Ghana went to the World Cup a few years ago, the unity witnessed was unprecedented and observers wondered whether at the end of it all we were going to return to the bad ways of divisive and abusive politics which has given politics a bad name fit for hanging in Ghana. When political leaders who should be seen seeking to douse the fire of polarization are themselves engaged in it, we regret it. Let us minimize the negative effects of partisanship so that the interests of the country would be catered for to the advantage of all us. We have learnt that the deputy minister�s political remarks did not endear him to his hosts, some of who sneered at his efforts. We congratulate the Black Stars who appear to have ignored the deputy minister�s remarks and soldiered on to victory.