Ghana’s performance at the FIFA World Cup 2022, according to seasoned football administrator Nana Fitz, was nothing short of a disgrace.
He claimed that money spent on the Black Stars for the World Cup could have gone towards other things that are crucial to the game.
The former Cornerstone player claimed, in an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb’s Sports Check, that the World Cup in Qatar did not make effective use of the taxpayers’ money.
“Right now, people are blaming government that we don’t have stadiums and there is no light at the stadiums but you take taxpayers’ money to the World Cup and buy disgrace,” he stated.
He added, “the money that we took to the World Cup, we didn’t buy anything but disgrace. We performed poorly.”
Months after the World Cup, Nana Fitz believes it would be prudent if the GFA and the sports ministry account to Ghanaians on the monies spent at the World Cup.
Iran’s anti-government protesters have been celebrating the national football team’s elimination from the World Cup after their 1-0 loss to the United States.
On Tuesday night, videos showed people dancing in the streets and honking car horns in Tehran and other cities.
Many Iranians refused to cheer on their national football team in Qatar, seeing it as a symbol of the Islamic Republic.
The state-run media blamed hostile forces both inside and outside Iran for putting undue pressure on the players.
In an apparent show of solidarity with the protesters, the players did not sing the national anthem before their first game, a 6-2 defeat by England.
They did, however, sing during the Wales game, which they won 2-0, and during the politically charged match against the United States.
Some protesters saw that as a betrayal of their cause even though there were reports that the team came under intense pressure from Iranian authorities.
The unrest started 10 weeks ago following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested by morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the strict rules requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab.
Authorities have responded to what they have portrayed as foreign-backed “riots” with a violent crackdown in which human rights activists say at least 450 people have been killed, including 60 children. More than 18,000 others are reported to have been arrested.
A video posted online on Tuesday night appeared to show dozens of people celebrating the Iranian football team’s loss at a square in Mahsa Amini’s home city of Saqqez, in the country’s north-west. They can be heard cheering and waving headscarves before fireworks are set off.
خوشحالی مردم سقز در محله کریمآباد بعد باخت تیم ایران مقابل آمریکا
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BBC Persian also received similar videos from several other cities in the predominantly Kurdish region, where dozens of protesters have reportedly been killed by security forces in recent weeks.
Crowds were filmed dancing to music in Sanandaj, an epicentre of the unrest, while in Kermanshah and Marivan they were heard chanting “Woman, life, freedom” – one of the main slogans of the protests.
In Tehran, students at Imam Sadiq University gathered outside a hall of residence and chanted “Death to the dishonourable” – an adjective protesters have used against security forces and which was shouted by fans inside the stadium during Iran’s match against England.
The opposition activist collective 1500tasvir posted videos that it said showed security forces opening fire at protesters celebrating in the south-western city of Behbahan and beating a woman in Qazvin, near Tehran.
There was also a confrontation between opponents and supporters of the government outside the Al Thumama Stadium in Qatar after Tuesday’s match.
Danish journalist Rasmus Tantholdt filmed several men carrying Iranian flags shoving a man wearing a T-shirt saying “Woman, life, freedom” in English. A woman with him is then heard complaining that she attacked and asking for help to leave the stadium safely.
Another video obtained by BBC Persian showed a male protester being violently arrested by security guards outside the stadium while shouting “Woman, life, freedom”.
State-affiliated media in Iran meanwhile praised the national football team despite their failure to qualify for the World Cup’s knockout stages.
The conservative Farhikhtegan newspaper said “we are proud of Iran”, while the Revolutionary Guards-linked daily Javan said the team had “won the real game: the game of uniting people’s hearts”.
Keyhan, whose editor is appointed by the supreme leader, said the team had gone into the tournament under “the most unfair conditions”, with pressure from “mercenaries at home and abroad”.
Before the match, the hard-line Tasnim news agency rejected a report by CNN, which cited an unnamed security source as saying that the Revolutionary Guards had threatened the families of the Iranian players with “imprisonment and torture” if they did not “behave”.
Carlos Queiroz, the head coach of Iran, questioned the “disinformation” regarding threats made against his team and commended them for their efforts despite losing 1-0 to the United States and being ousted from the World Cup.
When they declined to sing the national anthem before their opening match in Qatar against England, Iran’s players participated in what appeared to be a show of solidarity with anti-government protestors in their own country.
According to human rights organizations, more than 400 people have died as a result of Iran’s crackdown on protests, which started after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was imprisoned for refusing to wear the required hijab, passed away in police detention in September.
Reports had claimed that the familiesof the players would be intimidated if they protested once again, but Queiroz responded firmly in his post-game press conference.
“The world, in the current circumstances, is full of stupidities,” he said. “If you hear from an anonymous source, you convey the information and in the space of two hours, some stupidities become truth.
“It’s disinformation, it’s a shame but it’s the truth. We have heard several stories about threats the players received.
“But what I can state is that thanks to their work, thanks to the conversations we had, the players started smiling again and understood who they were playing for, their mission.
“I’m very glad they were able to give a response on the field and give prestige to the shirt.”
Iran have now failed to get past the opening group phase at each of their six World Cup appearances (18 games); only Scotland (23) have played more games at the tournament with all of them coming in the opening group phase.
Queiroz was happy with his players’ efforts, though, adding: “I am very proud and I’m honoured to be a coach of this Iran squad, the players are fantastic.
“I said before that earlier in my career, I coached many teams, and throughout my career, I’ve never seen players that gave so much and received so little in return.
“They deserve all my respect and admiration. I’m incredibly proud of their efforts in training and in games, wearing the shirt of their country.”
Senegalese TikTok star, Khaby Lame has been announced as the Qatar national Bank’s official FIFA World Cup brand ambassador throughout the tournament.
The Qatar National Bankis one of the largest financial institution in the Middle East.
Khaby, who has over 150 million followers on Tiktok and over 80 million followers on Instagram will have a “dreaming big” themed television commercial with Qatar National Bank.
According to QNB Spokesperson, “Lame was selected as a perfect representative of QNB Group’s values and Qatar’s can-do spirit. His ambitions have been achieved through a combination of hard work, determination, and imagination, much like the country of Qatar.”
Early in the year, Lame was listed as the top earners in the 2022 Forbes list of Under 30 Europe Art and Culture list. With this new contract as a brand ambassador, his earnings are expected to shoot up to $10 million by the end of this year.
Most of his earnings come from endorsement deals and content from social media especially Tiktok and Instagram.
