Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kurt Okraku has denied allegations that the GFA interferes with national team coaches’ decisions, particularly in player selections.
Okraku was addressing the Parliamentary Select Committee on Sports on Monday following a petition by Save Ghana Football, a group that protested after the Black Stars’ disappointing group stage exit at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
“They [national team coaches] have made public statements not once, not twice about the environment this FA has created to enable them to work,” Okraku said, emphasising that coaches, including senior national team head coach Otto Addo, have been given complete freedom to manage their teams.
“If a coach expects me to select players for him, I will fire the coach because that is not the kind of coach we want to work with.”
Okraku assured the committee that player selection for all national teams, including the Black Stars and Black Queens, is solely the responsibility of the technical teams.
“Players representing Ghana are solely selected by the technical teams of our national teams,” he concluded.