President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has cautioned the management of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) not to interfere in the selection of players for the upcoming FIFA World Cup tournament in Qatar.
In a meeting with officials of the GFA at the Jubilee House in Accra last week, the President insisted that the selection of players for the tournament should be left to the technical team preparing for the tournament.
“I plead with you to leave them to do their work,” the President Akufo-Addo told the GFA officials and added that habit of selecting players for coaches preparing for tournaments has been a problem for the country’s football.
“We have a very good team – Otto Addo, Chris Houghton, George Boateng – we have a very good set of people to guide our players. We should leave them in their professional judgment. We should do our best to support them,” he said.
On the team’s funding, the President said he held discussions with the Minister of Youth and Sports on the government’s responsibility towards the team’s preparation.
“We are going to do our best to make sure that the players are put in a very good position to go and lift the flag of Ghana,” he said.
He was optimistic that with the right preparation, the team could go far in the tournament and showcase the country’s brand of football to the world.
President Akufo-Addo commended the GFA for getting a number of Ghanaians in the diaspora to agree to play for the country in the upcoming World Cup and pledged the government’s commitment to create the best condition for the team to succeed.
The President of GFA, Kurt Okraku, briefed the President on the team’s itinerary for the tournament and indicated that the team would start the journey and camp at Abu Dhabi on November 10.
“We expect the last batch of the playing body and technical team to arrive by the November 14, which is the deadline given to all clubs to release their players. On the November 17, we will play an international friendly with Switzerland in Abu Dhabi and depart finally to Doha the following day,” he said.
He said the Black Stars would play their first game against Portugal on November 24 and sounded optimistic that the team would be ready before the start of the tournament.
“We hope that we go all the way because we have quality assets. We have a quality technical team and I believe that with all the logistical support that you have provided, the team will go in there and make our nation proud,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has also expressed the belief thatthe Black Stars has enough quality to excel at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
During a similar visit to his office, Dr Bawumia noted that ‘’We have very high hopes that this time the team we have put together would surprise everybody; so I just want to wish you the very best as you go through the final preparation for the World Cup.’’
He urged he FA to put in every effort to ensure Ghana excel at the championship to make Ghanaians happy.
The FA leadership also presented a jersey to him.
BY YAW KYEI
