Didi Dramani for Queens, Basigi takes over Princesses - As national coaches trade places
The Emergency Committee of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has made a number of proposals that will see changes in the technical bench of the female national teams.
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The proposal is likely to be approved at the next GFA Executive Committee meeting.
In what could best be described as trading places, Mas-Ud Dramani, who handled the Under-20 team, has been offered the job for the senior team, Black Queens, while Yusif Basigi, who led the Queens to the bronze-winning feat at the 2016 Africa Women’s Championship (AWC) in Cameroun, takes over the Black Princesses.
Coach Evans Adotey, however, retains his job with the Under-17 team, Black Maidens.
Significant in the proposal, is the GFA’s move to meet the roadmap from football’s world governing body, FIFA, that by 2018 the membership of all national female teams should be females. In fulfilment of that, the FA has proposed Mercy Tagoe Quarcoo, Dora Zutah and Memunatu Sulemana, all former national team players, as assistant coaches.
While Mrs Tagoe-Quarcoo has been proposed as assistant to Dramani, Zutah, who for a long time was the goalkeeper’s trainer for the Queens and Princesses, has now been proposed as the number two at the Princesses job. Meanwhile, it has been proposed that Mallam Nuhu, coach for Bolga All Stars and a former equipment officer for the Maidens, be appointed as assistant trainer for the Maidens.
Memunatu, popularly called Abiba, was the No. 1 of choice the Queens for nearly a decade and in recent times had been clamouring for a return to the national team. This time she could get her wish in a different role, having been proposed as goalkeeper’s coach for the Maidens.
However, it is unclear if she has any formal training to take up that role.
Both the FA’s Technical Director, Francis Oti-Akenten and the FA Secretariat are tight-lipped about the proposed changes as the three national teams prepare for their international assignments later this year.
The Princesses begin their 2018 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers in September, the Maidens start their 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifying campaign in October.
The Queens are also expected to begin preparations towards the 2018 AWC which Ghana will be hosting in November.
