01/10/2024
President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku, has vehemently denied allegations that the selection of players into the national team by coaches is always influenced by the association.
The FA President appeared before the Parliamentary Select Committee on Monday, September 30, 2024, to answer questions and concerns raised about happenings at the Association.
Responding to allegations of influencing player selection decisions, Kurt clarified that the GFA creates an enabling environment where coaches work without interference.
“They [national team coaches] have made public statements not once, not twice about the environment this FA has created to enable them to work,” he said.
He buttressed this assertion by referencing coach Otto Addo’s open appreciation for the freedom with which he worked as head coach of the Black Stars.
“Coach Addo has said on platforms that one of the key reasons he accepted to come back is the fact that he is allowed to do the work the way he wants to work,” Kurt added.
He emphasised that it is the sole responsibility of the technical teams to select player for football matches and not the FA.
Kurt’s strong defence also aims to nullify critics’ allegations that the exclusion of players like Majeed Ashimeru and Joseph Paintsil from Ghana’s 2022 World Cup squad was due to personal differences between him (Kurt Okraku) and certain players’ representatives.
The Black Stars’ early exit from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast is the latest frustration of Ghanaian football fans leading to a demonstration which was staged by a group called ‘Save Ghana Football.’
By: Maxwell Woyram Tsigbe