You have to admire the talent and fortitude of Ampem Darkoa Ladies. You also have to applaud the work people at the club did to ensure triumph or indeed the ultimate at the 2023 WAFU Zone B CAF Champions League qualifier in Nigeria.
If there is one person who must be singled out for praise, it is their bankroller, Nana Fosu Gyeabour II. His management, coaches and of course, players must be lauded. All they sank into the club’s administration and team performance that resulted in their giant win in the subregional competition have yielded positive outcomes.
This victory sends them to the Women’s CAF Champions League. They should be proud that their dedication to the women’s game have been rewarded somewhat. The Nanammas, as Ampem Darkoa are called, were inconsolable in 2022 after failing to clinch the ticket to the CAF Women’s Champions League.
They lost 3-0 Nigeria’s Bayelsa Ladies. They returned this year to mount an impressive onslaught on the qualification ticket, thus dismissing every opponent on their route. This is the result of years of hard work. Their commitment to achieve best is evident in their painstaking sacrifices. The ladies must savour their win until they no longer can.
There is no question that this is good for women’s football in Ghana. Two years ago, it was Hasaacas Ladies in the final of the maiden Women's CAF Champions League. Even though they lost to the much resourced and formidable Sundowns Ladies of South Africa, the ladies from Sekondi were not a disappointment at all.
I am in no haste to sing hymns or praises to the football association. However, if a Ghanaian female team was at the final of the first-ever Women’s CAF Champions League and twice, Ampem Darkoa, have been at the WAFU Zone B final, and won once, (all in three years) I cannot overlook good roles played by the GFA.
What I find awkward is the hurried and ungodly attempt by operatives of the GFA to stampede Ampem Darkoa’s party – ostensibly for cheap politics. Please give the ladies space to ride in glory and not taint their jolly with pettiness. This GFA’s work concerning women’s football is being documented well.
Forcing anything into history will not work. We know those whose sacrifices led Hasaacas Ladies and Ampem Darkoa to the level they are today. It is worth appreciating officers at these clubs than hurrying to give unearned credit to the GFA whose job they must do well and not be in an immoral haste for laudation.