Ex-GFA boss questions criteria for Black Stars selection
A former chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, has expressed his misgivings about recent call-ups to the Black Stars, particularly some players aligned to some GFA executives who have been ever-present in the team, an occurrence he said smacked of favouritism and personal interest.
He warned that the practice where some FA members had formed a cabal and ensured that players associated with their clubs were given priority during national team call-ups would undermine the efforts to revive the national team.
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The firebrand director of Premier League side, Hearts of Oak, challenged the criteria for call-up handed to some players in the recent squad released by Black Stars head coach, Charles Akonnor, for Ghana's double header Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against South Africa, and São Tomé and Príncipe on Thursday and Sunday respectively.
Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe took the national coach to task and demanded why Dreams FC defender Philemon Baffuor, for instance, would warrant a call-up ahead of other players rated ahead of the youngster in the country.
He again questioned the rationale behind the decision to drop Diawisie Taylor, Karela United's talisman and the Premier League's leading goal scorer with 12 goals, while Dreams' midfielder Joseph Esso -- who has scored nine goals in the league -- has a place in Akonnor's squad.
''If Diawisie Taylor is leading the current goal-king chart is there a justification to pick Joseph Esso ahead of him, or is it because Esso plays for Dreams FC so he must, at all cost, be in the national team even if he doesn’t deserve to be there?” he queried.
Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe, who headed the GFA from 2004 to 2005, argued further that if such practice was not immediately halted the future of football in the country looked bleak and would continue to stagnate for a long time to come.
''What is happening now clearly shows that their clamour for positions in the current FA management was not borne out of just a genuine desire to help the growth of football but also out of their parochial interest. This is shameful because this path they're treading will soon kill football in the country," he told the Graphic Sports.
''This is not good for Ghana football and that has affected even the selection of our Black Stars players.''
''The rot has started once again from the top where it is becoming a norm and all these people who are fighting to get to the presidency and executive positions have all got individual players that they either manage or sponsor."
