Missing the World Cup
Ghana's World Cup boycott of 1966 was a protest at the number of places at the World Cup given by FIFA to Africa. It is a story of politics, decolonisation and pan-Africanism.
Ghana's World Cup boycott of 1966 was a protest at the number of places at the World Cup given by FIFA to Africa. It is a story of politics, decolonisation and pan-Africanism.
African champions in 1963 and 1965, and Olympic quarter-finalists in 1964, Ghana would have been the favourites to qualify for England – but the team, nicknamed the Black Stars, never got their chance. Missing the World Cup meets two players who regret their World Cup absence to this day – Osei Kofi and former team-mate Kofi Pare – and those close to the key agitators of the boycott, with another Ghanaian, Ohene Djan, eloquently leading the protest alongside the remarkable Ethiopian Yidnekatchew Tessema, a onetime Confederation of African Football president who was also a star player, coach and administrator.
Image: The Jules Rimet World Cup trophy, Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images
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- Tue 12 Jul 201602:32GMTBBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Tue 12 Jul 201604:32GMTBBC World Service Online, Europe and the Middle East, UK DAB/Freeview & South Asia only
- Tue 12 Jul 201605:32GMTBBC World Service East Asia
- Tue 12 Jul 201606:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia
- Tue 12 Jul 201612:32GMTBBC World Service except News Internet
- Tue 12 Jul 201618:32GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Tue 12 Jul 201619:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sat 16 Jul 201621:06GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Sun 17 Jul 201610:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia
