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Brand Ghana’s Football Diplomacy on the move: 2010 FIFA World Cup and

beyond

By Jean Lukaz MIH

Among the many misdeeds of Ghana’s invisible public diplomacy, football has rose

to the challenge of propping up the image of Ghana in recent times. Not only has

the rate of heart attacks among fans gone down as a result of frustration from the

pathological bunch of Black Star losers during matches but also the Brand Ghana

pressure is high from their graduating performance in the recent FIFA World Cups

Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010.

Ghana’s soft power in the area of football is increasingly becoming seductive and an

important determinant of the nation brand. Football has long become an European

cultural export and an active part of their Public Diplomacy efforts but with the

Americans getting tagged as ‘come back losers’ just as the Europeans are

beginning to look like ‘imperial losers,’ the South Americans are retelling the history

of civilization with their feet and Ghana is standing up to the challenge. Brand

Ghana now has the burden of holding the fort for Brand Africa’s Public Diplomacy.

Not even all the branding in the world could keep South Africa in the game. It’s

definitely ‘impossible’ in South Africa unless you are part of the Bafana Bafana

team.

Football, however, has a dual function in public diplomacy and ranks among the

good, the bad and the ugly. It can make peace and war. When Pelé visited DR

Congo in 1969, both factions in the civil war agreed on a ceasefire so that they

could see Pelé play and the same football brought about the famous 13-day Football

war between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969 sparked by the World Cup.

American athletes, Russian gymnasts, Brazilian footballers, Ethiopian and Kenyan

runners, all infer from the prowess of the nations’ sports brands: the latest on the

block being the Ghanaian national team, the Black Stars. Ghanaian footballers have

 joined the roll call above and sports, one of the determinants and communication

channels of the nation brand and also a tool of public diplomacy of sorts, have the

characteristic of highlighting a country and its people and their abilities and values

from the way its national teams compete in international contests. The only

problem with sports as a sub-brand is its ephemeral deployment only at

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international contests. This means that for the period when there is no event the

nation brand literally goes to sleep.

Several opportunities have slipped by for Ghana to leverage her nation brand on the

international scene and this prompted the new leadership to set up a quasi-

academic unit within the presidency to run a Brand Ghana Office that is yet to be

more than a lame duck. Brand Ghana is still lurking with sleeping branded

campaigns. The ‘Culture, warmth and much more’ brand that was developed by the

tourism sector and received much international coverage has yet to receive national

attention. President Obama came and left just as Kofi Annan left and came back and

it was all a transient massage of our psyches. In the absence of a National Public

Diplomacy Strategy (NPDS), Ghanaians have often taken the challenge to show

their true colours on such occasions.

Our national colours have never been so beautiful for Ghanaians to be donned in

them until Germany 2006. Even then, it was not until the Blacks stars won the third

match at the group stage that the euphoria became endemic. Come the African Cup

of Nations ACN/CAN 2008 and 2010 and Ghanaians would not feel the drag until the

finals where Egypt was mocked by a bunch of Black Stars teenagers. Experience

ultimately rewarded the Pharaohs.

In 2003, Germany started shopping for a new national brand, a series of campaigns

to improve the country's image abroad, seeking to replace the strong-mindedstereotypes of Nazis and sunbed-stealing tourists with a more relaxed, trendy and

even sexy depiction of its people and language. FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 did

the trick. In a welcome statement the ‘Land of Ideas’ website states: ‘We want our

guests to see the best side of our country (obviously not the worst side: racism!) -

with the ideas of the people who live here.

 Yet the Ghana is probably remembered more for booting out Czech Republic and

‘almighty USA’ than Germany’s land of ideas.

As Ghana heads for the World Cup finals taking each stage at a time, will the

Government of Ghana adopt a new approach to Public Diplomacy and activate

Sports or simply push a Football Diplomacy?

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In order to win the rights to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup leaders of the post-1994

government and soccer administrators used sport and cultural diplomacy as

enabling instruments to assert South Africa’s credentials. Nigeria, together with Iraq

and other 26 African countries, had used sports for the purpose of attaining a

foreign policy objective in 1976 when it boycotted the Montreal Olympic Games in

protest against New Zealand’s rugby contacts with South Africa and further in 1978,Nigeria and other African members of the Commonwealth boycotted the Edmonton

Commonwealth Games in view of New Zealand’s breach of the 1977 Gleneagles

Agreement when she kept playing sport with South Africa.

 The question is, if sports should actively become a tool of public diplomacy, must it

be a government function or must it be privatized? Government led public

diplomacy creates distrust in an environment where the publics are prejudiced

against the nation brand. To be effective, public diplomacy must be a function of 

publics, not governments and the best way to practise public diplomacy is throughordinary people. Only private actors have got the credibility to make a difference.

 This means building relationships in the spheres of everyday life in sports, business,

arts and entertainment. These forms of connection are important because they

promote a two-way conversation.

Remember President Sarkozy is personally investigating the state of the French

team just as President Jonathan is messing with the Nigerian team after their dismal

performances during the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010. If Football means so

much to governments as their Public Diplomacy tool, why would they gamble withineffective coaches who may not necessarily share the national vision? Maybe the

Italians, British and Americans would need a New Public Diplomacy Strategy

incorporating football as a full-time cultural institution. Or maybe it should just be

football and no politics? Have sports really a place in foreign policy? Can sports be a

proactive tool instead of its usual reactive position?

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