By Emmanuel Ladi
President of the WAFA Supporters Union (WASU), Mr. Yohanes Hadzor Nugbe, has firmly rejected accusations that WAFA management is failing to provide opportunities for players from the Volta Region or contribute to sports development there.
Call for Unity Over Blame
In a candid interview, Nugbe advised residents of the Volta Region to abandon the blame game and unite in finding solutions to the persistent challenges stunting sports growth. He emphasized the need for collective action to elevate football standards across communities, noting that WAFA stands ready to assist if regional football authorities and fans embrace proper systems and structures.
Deep-Rooted Challenges Exposed
Nugbe highlighted a range of entrenched issues plaguing football in the region, starting with the glaring absence of grassroots development programs that nurture young talent from the ground up. The region also suffers from a lack of professional sports institutions to train administrators, compounded by a shortage of qualified administrators, coaches, and scouts capable of identifying raw talent. Furthermore, there are no structured player career vision projects or welfare systems, alongside problems like unqualified age limits, strained relationships with clubs such as WAFA, overreliance on individual efforts, and insufficient sponsorship or investment. Weak professional branding and marketing, operational rigidity, personal insecurities, pervasive enmity toward WAFA, and a culture of unnecessary criticism rather than problem-solving all exacerbate the stagnation.
Path Forward Through Collaboration
To reverse this trend, Nugbe urged football stakeholders to rally under a single umbrella organization and hold regular workshops—perhaps quarterly or biannually—for administrators to build capacity and expertise. He stressed the importance of everyone supporting WAFA, the region’s sole Premier League representative, to proudly raise the Volta banner higher on the national stage.