Former Black Stars captain Opoku Nti has attributed Ghana’s prolonged Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title drought to the country’s failure to honor its past football heroes. The 1982 AFCON winner expressed disappointment with how past players have been neglected, suggesting that this has negatively impacted the national team’s performance.

Nti revealed that broken promises to players in the past have discouraged many from representing Ghana. “If Ghana is suffering, maybe some players cursed Ghana, I don’t know, but this thing got so many players to decide not to play for the nation again because the sacrifice was too much,” Nti told Joy Sports.

He cited the team’s poor performance in the 1984 AFCON as a direct consequence of the lack of appreciation shown to the 1982 winning squad. Nti added, “It’s all gone now, but you see, it didn’t augur well, so from there defending the Cup at Bouake, we were eliminated because no one was willing to sacrifice again. Who wants to die again for the nation? They said a nation that does not honour its heroes is not worth dying for.”

Ghana hasn’t won the AFCON trophy since 1982, and recent performances have been disappointing, with back-to-back group stage exits. Once one of the best sides and the first to reach four trophies, it has now been four decades since the Black Stars won a major trophy.