GRi Sports Ghana 20 - 04 - 2001
Soccer-Hearts in Brazzaville without kits,
lodge in dormitory
Soccer-Drama at GFA press conference on
Jones' exit
Soccer-Osam accepts Black Stars job again
Soccer-Hearts in Brazzaville without kits,
lodge in dormitory
Accra (Greater Accra) 20 April 2001
Accra Hearts of Oak, African Super Champions landed in Brazzaville early Thursday morning without their baggage.
In an "urgent message" signed by the Club Chairman, Mr Harry Zakkour and faxed to the Ghana Football Association, (GFA) the loss of their equipment in transit was attributed to the negligence of officials of Air Afrique, which lifted them to Brazzaville, via Abidjan.
Worse of all, the statement said the team was accommodated in a disused Police Cadet Dormitory near the airport because the Congolese officials said all hotels in Brazzaville have been fully booked for an international conference.
Under the circumstances, Mr Zakkour stated, six players have been allocated one room with four sleeping on the floor while the other two share "a ramshackle bed", while they move to another restaurant for their meals.
The statement explained that the Police Cadet Dormitory was the only alternative since they arrived in the Congolese capital at 2 a.m. very much exhausted.
The team, however plans to check out if nothing is done to improve their living condition.
Hearts appealed to the GFA to inform the Confederation of African Football (CAF) about their plight.
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Soccer-Drama at GFA press conference on
Jones' exit
Accra (Greater Accra) 20 April 2001
Drama erupted at a press conference organised by the Ghana Football Association (GFA), and addressed by Mr Emmanuel A Owusu-Ansah, Acting Chairman of the FA to give reasons for the sack of Cecil Jones Attuquayefio and the appointment Mr Osam Doudu as national coach.
The drama started when Mr Owusu-Ansah's answers to questions by journalists did not seem to satisfy most of the media men present.
Some of the sports writers shouted on top of their voices to challenge the decision of the GFA while others said the association was in acting capacity and was not properly constituted to dabble into the appointment and dismissal of coaches.
The Acting Chairman attributed the loss of Ghana's leadership position in Group Two of the World Cup qualifying series to conflict of interest, necessitated by Jones' continued responsibility with Hearts of Oak.
"Out of a possible nine points, from world cup matches which all Ghanaians would like to see the Stars participate even if for the sake of participating, Ghana have been able to gain only a point out of a possible nine and in the African Cup qualifiers won one and lost one"
He said the reason why the team has not fared well in the qualifiers of the two tournaments was not due to want of skills by Ghanaian players but to the fact that the coach has not been able to give the team good attention since, he also doubles as the coach of Hearts.
"We think that this arrangement is not the best and if we have had a coach who would devote all his time and energies entirely to the Stars, perhaps the nation would be getting closer to the World Cup.
"Even though some still believe that qualification is not over, in the view of the FA, the country has missed the boat again and to make matters worse, the country would be playing the three of our four remaining matches away from home."
Mr Owusu-Ansah continued that at a meeting between the management of Accra Hearts of Oak at the GFA, Hearts insisted that the club would like to undertake a training tour of Europe prior to their World Clubs tournament.
He said Hearts also have the defence of the African Championship to contend with and it was illogical to think that the club would dispense with the services of Jones in their busy schedule.
"During this time when Hearts would be away, the national team would be engaged in important matches hence missing the services of the coach and the nation would not forgive the FA if we fail to qualify for the African Cup of Nations."
Mr Owusu-Ansah said even though Jones remained on the pay roll of Hearts, while working with the GFA without a signed contract, the GFA has decided to give him a "golden handshake" at the earliest convenience.
He said, Coach Osam Doudu, has been asked to assemble all materials available and raise a Black Stars team for the World Cup qualifying match against Sierra Leone on 5 May, 2002.
On the position of a permanent coach for the Stars, he said the FA is still consulting with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and a decision would be taken later.
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Soccer-Osam accepts Black Stars job again
Accra (Greater Accra) 20 April 2001
Mr Osam Duodu, Technical Director of the Ghana Football Association said he has accepted the challenge to handle the Black Stars till a substantial coach is appointed.
He however said, the appointment of the new coach should be as early as possible and appealed to the GFA to pay him his entitlement for the three months that he handled the Stars when he took over from Guisseppe Dossena, the last foreign coach whose contract ended in July last year.
In an interview with the GNA Sports in Accra on Thursday after a press conference organised by the GFA to announce the sack of Jones Attuquayefio as coach of the Black Stars, Mr Osam Duodu said this time he would enter into an agreement on paper to prevent being cheated for the second time by the FA.
Mr Duodu said what has happened is nothing new to him but he declined to comment on the termination of the appointment of Mr Attuquafio saying that, it was too early to comment.
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