Good News, Bad News for The Black Stars

If you’re following The Black Stars, then you’ve already read the bad news on Inara’s Ghana blog. The Ghanaian FA booked the team into the luxury Labadi Beach Hotel (pictured) in Accra well in advance, but recently returned from training camp in Dubai to find their booking canceled.

Seems the team had got a reduced rate (understandable given they’re carrying the hopes of the entire nation, no?) but the hotel decided they could make a lot more money taking more of those overpriced (up to four times the usual rate!) and so ditched their guests.

It’s bad enough that hotels in Ghana are pricing regular fans out of accommodation during the tournament, but the lack of respect to the host national team is staggering. And a little stupid. Surely the honour of hosting The Black Stars should be preferable to three weeks of cash from a bunch of (probably) overweight businessmen?

But there was a little good news today to balance out The Black Stars luck.

Ghana’s kit sponsors Puma had promised the team a bus in honour of their heroic World Cup 2006 performance, where they emerged from the Group of Death before putting up a good fight against Brazil in the Second Round. It’s taken Puma eighteen months, but yesterday they finally delivered a 53-seater Mercedes-Benz Tourisimo to the Ghanaian FA.

It doesn’t quite even out. The Ghana team probably wouldn’t enjoy living on a bus for the tournament so will still have to find some new accommodation. But nice to see a corporate sponsor (finally) deliver on a promise, eliciting a confident Puma-friendly response from Ghanaian FA President Jochen Zeitz.

“We have no doubts about the two excellent brands in co-operation. Pumas have discharged their contract creditably. Since 2000, Puma teams have been winning the CAN. And in 2008, what I am sure is, a Puma team will win and that Puma team is Ghana.”