Astute Ghana football administrator and Former Vice President for the Ghana Football Association (GFA), George Afriyie has stated former Black Stars coach Charles Kwablah Akonnor failed as Ghana coach due to interference in player selection.
He said player selection interference at the Black Stars contributed to Akonnor’s failure during his time with the national team.
When Akonnor was appointed as head coach for the Black Stars, officials of the football association suggested it was archaic for coaches to be unassisted in their line of work with regards to player selection for the various national teams.
According to George Afriyie, after the sacking of Kwesi Appiah, it was ideal for Kurt Okraku to have appointed someone who would help him achieve his vision of improving the national team.
“You must always bear in mind that your next appointment fits in your vision,” he said.
The former Ghana FA vice president believed CK wasn’t a perfect replacement to succeed Kwasida Appiah. Nonetheless Mr. Afriyie believes the work of CK Akonnor was better compared to the performances under coach Milovan Rajevac in the AFCON.
“I entreated everyone during my interviews to support CK, although believes CK wasn’t ready yet to be given the job. I also advised that he should be left alone to do his job only that will he be successful. Along the line, the President (Kurt Okraku) granted an interview insinuating that, gone were the days only coaches were involved in the selection of the national team. This proves that CK Akonnor struggled with officials during call-ups,” he Happy FM.
“I don’t agree with people who say suggest CK wasn’t doing well so he should be sacked. We need to consider the matches he played and the Covid implications which limited his asses to certain players he wanted. That against the crop of players Milo had at his disposal. Using that basis to sack Ck was unfair to him. I personally think we pressed the panic button too early,” he said.
