The last time Ghana’s senior men’s national football team, Black Stars, qualified for the Fifa World Cup, it brought more shame than pride to the rest of the country.
That was four years ago during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Scandalous scenes linked to the remuneration of the players saw Brazilian TV interrupt their telenovela programming (mind you, telenovelas are prime time content in Brazil!) to broadcast live coverage of a cash-loaded plane landing at the airport to settle money issues within the Black Stars.
Evidently, this shocking scenario did more harm than good and the chaos inside the team’s hotel and dressing room soon fueled Ghana’s miserable group stage exit from the tournament. Fast-forward to 2018 and the state of our football remains disappointing.
Amid corruption sagas involving Anas’ exposure of ex-GFA boss, Kwesi Nyantakyi, our biggest blessing of late, I’d say, has been the failure to qualify for Russia 2018. Sad, ironic, but not false. Until we fix the administrative mess ruining the spirit of our national football team, thou shalt not appear on the big international stage to disgrace us – yet again. We will not accept such humiliation from the Black Stars.
However, their failure to reach this summer’s World Cup is not my failure, nor that of Senyuiedzorm Awusi Adadevoh and her crew at renowned Ghanaian sports photography agency, Images Image. While several individual sports journalists and media houses in our country lost interest in covering the tournament live from Russia, we looked at it from a different angle and put our things together to make the trip.
Was the lie that “Ghanaian audiences will not be too interested in following the World Cup” constructed upon the fear of investing in travel and broadcast plans? I do not know, but I know that statement has been debunked.
Ghanaians are absolutely loving the competition albeit the absence of our gallant Black Stars. The aggressive and rapid football, the surprise results, and the unthinkable fate of some of the sport’s biggest names have transformed Russia 2018 in arguably the best FIFA World Cup tournament ever. And all the emotions have been formidably captured by Adadevoh at select venues.
In this vast European country where she’s been catching trains and I’ve been catching flights every week, we’ve both become Ghana ambassadors. Well, unofficially. Our personal experiences have been stunningly formidable. We’ve been living a celebrity lifestyle.
When you get special treatment at the airport in Saransk:
From getting discounts just because local sellers are enthused by our skin color, to being asked to pose for pictures with random strangers, airport officials, and train attendants; from receiving special invites to have lunch, dinner or spend a full day in the homes of Russian citizens, to receiving gifts; isn’t Russia a fantastic place to be at, as a Ghanaian, this summer??
Special invite from the “Tasty Souvenirs (??????? ????????)” shop’s owner and her family:
The warmth I’m greeted with here, on a daily basis, is nothing like I imagined. I naturally do not buy into the propaganda. Therefore, I took with a pinch of salt the many bits of advice I received – both from fellow Ghanaians and other good Western connections who meant well for me. I was told to prepare myself for a cold, rude, and not so secure experience throughout my World Cup trip.
A recap of the tips I got:
“Russians do not speak English so don’t expect to be shown directions.”
“Best not to ask Russians for any kind of directions; you might feel sorry you did. Always communicate directly with FIFA officials.”
“Russian custom officers are tough and might over-search you because of your ethnicity and nationality. Keep calm in such instances.”
“Communicate your whereabouts to us on a daily basis so we know where to find you if something bad happens.”
And the list goes on.
I know everyone who shared such tips had good intentions but I do not know how many said this out of personal experiences rather than via gossip. Another thing I know, now, is that none of these ideas are true – at least, not for Ghana’s only ambassadors to Russia (Senyuiedzorm and I) at this FIFA World Cup.
“Thanks to you, I am getting interesting impressions of Russia,” said John Sherren, the South African manager of my favorite Ghanaian singer, Wiyaala.
“I’m glad. That’s my aim. I am happy to let people view Russia through my lenses. An alternative to pro or anti-Russian propaganda by the mainstream media,” I responded.
While my travel posts on social media are offering the aforementioned to my fellow countrymen and countrywomen back home, we the unofficial Ghanaian ambassadors are also offering Russian locals a different view of Africans. Senyuiedzorm was updating us about her latest travel experiences when she wrote the following to describe colorful pictures of herself posing with train hostesses who offered her great assistance throughout her 18-hour journey from Samara to Moscow:
“These two Russian ladies in the shots, I’m afraid, mistook me for a star. They wanted me in every shot. And, well! Life is too short to waste time explaining that I’m not a star yet.”
First of all, Senyuiedzorm is too humble. She IS a star. When I finally met her in real life at the Media Center in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium ahead of Portugal vs Morocco in June, I thought to myself:
“Folks, I have finally seen the Terminator, the Black Sniper! This is it!”
Her talent with the camera is unmatched in Ghana. She does not need to be the one captured by her lens to be a star. The woman behind the camera is a star too. Positioning, precision, timeliness… shoots! Senyuiedzorm shoots football players and fans in stadiums like snipers shoot their victims from the top of a building. She has all my respect and admiration – not just for her skill but also for the mindset that got her here in Russia with me. She understands business, branding, legacy and because of that, Images Image is here to stay.
Senyuiedzorm Awusi Adadevoh sitting on her mega camera box outside the Kazan Arena
Russians do not even need to know the wonders that she performs to want to snatch pictures with her. The same keeps happening to me every time I step out to commute, walk to the FanFest, pass by grocery stores, or make my way into a café. The people here, even the police, would make you feel special. They blush when I approach them for inquiries. They come up with their best English to try an assist me in the best possible way.
Unlike Senyuiedzorm, I do not wear the Ghana flag as a scarf on my head. Consequently, I get asked a lot where I’m from. I cannot count how many times I’ve responded with, “Ghana, in West Africa” and received thumbs up for my response. As per the routine, they repeat the information I give them to confirm they have it correct. That’s because after getting their photo requests granted, they hop on social media to shout to their followers that they’ve just bumped into a cool person from Ghana, a country in Africa.
I’m glad I’m checking out Russia for myself and not blindly swallowing propaganda claiming the Russian population is predominantly cold and racist. Of course, I cannot talk about their government. I have no personal experience-based opinion about the Russian government aside the fact that acquiring my visa at the Russian embassy in Ghana was a breeze, and passing customs upon my arrival in Sochi took me just five minutes whereas traveling fans and media photographers from France, Portugal, and Spain were held for over 30 minutes each – making the wait in the queue unbearably long!
What I can say about the population in Moscow, Saransk, and Sochi is that it is immersed in Black American culture with hip-hop music resounding in pubs, malls, and especially loudly in private cars and taxis in the streets. What I can also say is that I’m glad to be the first (or one of) the first Black persons that many locals here are seeing in real life.
Like Senyuiedzorm, I’m offering a good example to Russians for them to engrave a positive image of Ghanaians and Africans in their minds. All jokes aside, and without bragging too much, let’s admit it: the two of us are promoting Ghana more than the entire Black Stars squad has done since their last positive FIFA World Cup campaign in South Africa 2010.
Yes, I believe travelling media professionals like myself as an international freelance journalist or Senyuiedzorm of Images Image which is the only sports photography agency from Ghana present in Russia have a role to play; and that is to set the record straight about where they come from. Media professionals. Ambassadors of our country. This is who we are and what we came here to do. Independent journalism will save the world from stereotypes and politically-fueled propaganda.
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Angela Akua Asante is covering the World Cup in Russia. Follow her blog posts with the Joy Sports team. Sponsored by CRD7 CRonaldoDaily.com
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