Former Ghana international, Mohammed Polo, has voiced his concerns about the prevailing tendency to favor foreign coaches over African counterparts in the footballing world.
Polo, who is a legendary figure associated with Hearts of Oak, highlighted that African football has increasingly leaned toward foreign managers, sometimes without verified credentials, while local coaches are often overlooked.
Sharing his perspective on this issue, Polo expressed his surprise at the continued preference for white coaches over African coaches. He stated, “I am surprised we Africans still believe these white coaches are superior to us because we don’t even trust our own; we don’t give the chance to our own.”
These comments come in the context of the recent remarks made by Martin Koopman, the current coach of Hearts of Oak. Koopman had distanced himself from the team’s slow start to the season and the struggles to score goals in the Ghana Premier League, suggesting that even the national team, the Black Stars, had been facing similar challenges.
In response to Koopman’s remarks, Polo called on the Dutch coach to avoid making excuses and instead focus on finding solutions to address the ongoing challenges faced by the club. He emphasized that finding these solutions is precisely why Koopman was hired as the coach.
“He has to find the solution. It’s the reason why he was contracted. He started preseason and was scoring plenty of goals, and things have changed since the league started, but it doesn’t mean it is the end,” Polo emphasized.
