As Ghanaians are still grappling with the early exit of their team, Black Stars from the just concluded 2021 Africa Cup of Nations AFCON in Cameroon, reports have emerged that the four AFCON trophies won by the West African nation have gone missing.
The Black Stars hold record as one of the four nations who have won the continental diadem more than three times – Egypt 7, Cameroon 5, Ghana 4 and Nigeria 3
Ghana were crowned African champions in 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982 however, 40 years and counting, they have not tasted victory at the biennial competition.
Under CAF rules, teams that win the AFCON are given a replica of the trophy on a permanent basis and are allowed to keep the original trophy for the two years in-between tournaments before handing it back to the governing body of football on the continent.
Teams are allowed to keep the original trophy permanently when they win it on three occasions.
Only Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria and Egypt have so far won AFCON three or more times.
Report reaching us from Accra the Ghanaian Capital indicates that Ghana’s poor record of keeping relics, shows that the replica AFCON trophies given to Ghana by CAF cannot be traced.
AFCON trophy
Saddick Adams, who is the reigning Sports Writers Association of Ghana’s (SWAG) sports journalist of the year, who tried tracking the trophies before the 2019 AFCON and was told they were missing.
“You know that CAF gives you a replica when you win the trophy but then, you get the golden one when you win it for keeps [three times],” he said on a radio programme in Accra.
“Before the 2019 AFCON, I asked questions about the four trophies that we have won and I was told that we lost the trophies during the Coup when the National Sports Council Office was ransacked.”
However Ghana’s Ministry of Youth and Sports announced that it had found the AFCON trophy that Ghana won for keeps in 1978 but are silent on the other replicas.
In a statement, the Ministry said: “The Cup known as the ‘Abdelaziz Abdallah Salem Trophy will be among the many trophies that are scheduled to be exhibited at the Ghana National Sports Museum when it’s established as part of the 2023 African Games in Ghana.”
Two years ago, Egypt’s original AFCON trophy, which they secured for keeps after winning the AFCON three times in 2006, 2008 and 2010, also disappeared from the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) in Cairo.
