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Former Ghanaian international footballer, Anthony Baffoe, has said he is living a fulfilled life after his active football career ended in 2006 because he made a personal decision to educate himself.

“Life after football has been good to me. It has been good to me because I have education. I studied events management, sports management, and international business. While I was playing, I was reading a lot of books to get certain knowledge. When I started with the Union, I had to deal with the rules and regulations. If I sit with the General Secretary or the President of the Ghana Football Association, I must know the rules and regulations in football to be at the same level. So I went back and read properly,” Baffoe said on The Lounge with Kwaku Sakyi-Addo.

Baffoe has served in various capacities in the football fraternity since his retirement. In 2006, he was appointed the director of international relations of the Black Stars. In 2009, he founded the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ghana (PFAG), an accredited body of FIFPRO, the worldwide representative of all professional players which seeks to build a strong relationship amongst professional footballers by sustaining and protecting their interests to provide them with life after football skills.

He was also appointed as ambassador against racism by the International Football Association (FIFA) and also serves as a Match Commissioner and General Coordinator for CAF and FIFA sanctioned tournaments.

Baffoe advised young football players to prepare for their future because “when you sign your first contract as a professional, don’t think your career will never end…You can’t cheat nature. When it’s over, it’s over.”

Baffoe disclosed that not only is he encouraging young footballers to save for their future, but his organization, the Professional Football Association of Ghana has created the ‘Life After Football Fund’ to give them an avenue to save.

“I don’t think that the government or the Ghana Football Association is responsible for your life after football. No! It’s we the footballers who have to show solidarity amongst ourselves to support each other,” he explained.

He considers it a privilege to still be involved in football; “the atmosphere, the chanting; I still have it as the general coordinator, I still go into the dressing room of the players, I’m still in the stadium. The only thing is I’m no more active on the pitch.”

“It was great to be a footballer but it is over; we are part of the museum; it’s history. You can write positive history and negative history,” he added.

Source: Starrfmonline.com

Former Ghanaian international footballer, Anthony Baffoe, has called for more concerted efforts among the football fraternity to curb racism against

Social media users in Ghana have been advised to adopt safety measures to protect the content they put up on social media.

A social media consultant, Naa Oyoo Kumodzi criticized the practice where photos of newborn babies and children are put up by parents, relatives or friends on social media, indicating that it puts the safety of the child in danger.

“We need to be aware of the security issues, child safety and putting baby photos up. We’ve crossed the line. There is no privacy anymore,” Kumodzi noted.

During a conversation with the host of The Lounge, Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, Mrs Kumodzi recalled that back in the day, “we were very private when it comes to showing babies to the world. A child would be named after seven or eight days, but now in the middle of child birth, you are seeing someone being delivered or someone is posting their newborn to the world.”

Solution

Mrs Kumodzi recommended intensive education on the “ugly side” of social media saying, “I keep telling church groups among others that this is something we must be talking about a lot at the pulpit because there are also young people in the church that are not very aware of the ugly side of social media.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Popout, Maximus Ametorgoh urged social media users to strictly audit the profile of people who send them a request to connect with online.

He said ideally, one must have an objective for joining any social media platform because “it is a double edged sword, it is like fire so you must have that objective very clearly.”

“On social media, you are documenting yourself…You are profiling yourself with whatever content you put up. It’s an open diary you are building on social media so someone can just pick it up and analyse,” he explained.

On her part, the Dean of the School of Information and Communication Studies, Professor Audrey Gadzekpo said people must be aware that what “drives our societies and our conversations is gossip so we must bear that in mind.”

The Lounge with Kwaku Sakyi-Addo airs live on Starr FM every Friday from 7pm to 8pm and on GHOne TV on Sundays from 8pm to 9pm.

Source: Starrfmonline.com