GFA President denies involvement in Black Stars player selection

Mr. Kurt Simeon Edwin Okraku, President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), has stated that he is not involved in player selection for the senior national team, the Black Stars.

He made the assertion during his appearance before the Parliamentary Select Committee, which is investigating Ghana’s current football woes following a Save Ghana Football protest in February 2024.

According to Mr. Okraku, hired coaches are solely responsible for inviting their own players to the national team, and any coach who seeks their consent in player selection will be dismissed.

“If I hire a coach and the coach expects me to select players for him, I will fire the coach. I am repeating myself; If I hire a coach for Ghana and that coach expects me, Kurt, to select players for him, that coach will be fired the next day.

“Because that is not the kind of coach I and we want to work with. Players for the Black Stars are selected by the technical team led by current coach Otto Addo. Simply,” he said.

Responding to the massive protest back in February after the group stage exit of the Black Stars at the 2023 AFCON, Kurt said, “We have so many channels not to create the atmosphere they created to address the issues that were of concern to them.

“If the group had patience, they would realise that most of the concerns were being taken care of by the leadership of FA,” he said.

The ongoing Parliamentary probe of the decline of Ghana football led by Mr. Kobena Mensah Woyome, Member of Parliament for South Tongu, has invited top football stakeholders to discuss ways to change Ghana’s football fortunes.

GNA