Appiah’s dismissal insensitive

George Ernest Asare Football Sep - 17 - 2014 , 08:55

A former soccer star, Mr Yaw Boakye-Yiadom Amponsah, has described the dismissal of coach James Kwasi Appiah as insensitive on the part of the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

He said the sacking of the coach which coincided with the victory of Ghana in a crucial game against Togo to put Ghana on course to qualifying for the AFCON tournament also showed the inconsistency of the Kwesi Nyantakyi-led GFA and their gross disrespect to the entire soccer fraternity in the country.

“The sacking of Kwasi Appiah at this period was not only a mere show of power, but also appears to be an agenda carefully mapped out after the World Cup tournament to sack the coach at all cost,” Mr Amponsah lamented during an interview with Daily Graphic.

“Why did they not fire Kwasi Appiah immediately after the World Cup, but did so after he won a crucial match against Togo?” questioned Mr Amponsah, onetime player of defunct GIHOC Stars and a labour consultant.

“I believe that the FA has been very inconsistent in their actions in relation to the Kwasi Appiah affair, and this also shows bad faith to the players and the soccer fraternity in the country.

“If we fail to qualify to participate in the AFCON tournament, Kwesi Nyantakyi’s FA should be held solely responsible,” he noted.

Recalling events after the World Cup, he said at a time the Ghanaian soccer fans were demanding the coach’s head after the team was bundled out of the group stage of Brazil 2014 , and the hullabaloo of the appearance fee, “the FA came out strongly to support him and went further to renew his contract just to spite the supporters”.

He said it was afterwards that the FA came out with an agenda to recruit a technical advisor for the coach, and attempted to convince soccer fans that it was the request of the coach.