Black Stars Crisis: Kelvin Taylor calls for Sports Minister Kofi Adams Removal

Kelvin Taylor has called on the NDC government to remove Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Adams from office if he is unable to act against Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kurt Okraku, as pressure over the Black Stars’ collapse continues to grow.

Speaking oh is platform this saturday 03 October 2026, Mr Taylor argued that the minister’s reluctance to hold the GFA leadership accountable undermines the government’s credibility on football reform. He alleged that Mr Adams has been too close to the GFA to criticise what he described as the association’s abysmal performance. These are Mr Taylor’s views, and neither Mr Adams nor the GFA had responded to the claims at the time of publication.

The crisis behind the call

Ghana have lost their opening two Group C matches in the 2027 AFCON qualifiers, suffering a 2-0 defeat to Côte d’Ivoire in Bouaké before a 4-2 home loss to The Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium. The results mean the senior national team is in danger of missing two consecutive AFCON tournaments, and the Black Stars have won just one of their last eight matches across all competitions. Government Cannot Dissolve GFA: Sports Minister Kofi Adams +2

The GFA and head coach Carlos Queiroz mutually agreed to terminate his contract on Thursday, October 1. The defeats have intensified calls from sections of the public and political class for the GFA to be dissolved or for major changes to be made to the management of Ghana football. ghanawebpulse

The minister’s position

Mr Adams has so far ruled out dissolving the association. He told JoySports he does not think government has the power to do so, since the GFA is a registered entity that pays its taxes to the appropriate authority. He added that government has a legitimate interest because the national teams the GFA supervises belong to the government. He also indicated that the situation could be different if officials of the GFA were found to have committed criminal offenses. Government ‘cannot dissolve’ GFA – Sports Minister Kofi Adams – MyJoyOnline

Mr Adams met GFA President Kurt Okraku and members of the GFA Executive Committee on Friday at the Ministry in Accra. The Ministry and the GFA agreed to constitute a five-member Technical Search Committee to identify and recommend a new head coach for the Black Stars, with a report due by October 9, 2026. Critics such as Mr Taylor see this collaborative approach as evidence that the minister is unwilling to confront the GFA leadership. ghanaweb

Background

Mr Adams took office as Minister for Sports and Recreation on 7 February 2025 under the Mahama administration. Mr Okraku was first elected GFA president in October 2019 and was re-elected for a second term at the 2023 Elective Congress in Tamale. The GFA was dissolved by government in 2018 following the corruption scandal that ended Kwesi Nyantakyi’s presidency, and it was later restored under a FIFA Normalisation Committee. Since then, any perceived government interference in the association has been a sensitive issue, given FIFA’s rules on political interference in member associations. Wikipedia

As the Black Stars search for a new coach and their AFCON hopes hang by a thread, the debate over who should be held responsible for the national team’s decline looks set to intensify.

NsemGH will update this story as reactions come in.