Blame Kurt Okraku for Black Stars’ woes — Afriyie

Former Vice-President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), George Afriyie, has held GFA President, Kurt Simeon-Okraku accountable for the Black Stars' failure to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). 

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Graphic Sports last Saturday, Afriyie accused Simeon-Okraku of poor leadership and alleged that the FA was being run with the mindset of managing a personal football club rather than a national institution.

“He is the number one problem,” Afriyie stated when asked about the challenges that had led to the Black Stars’ decline in recent years. 

He criticised the GFA President for dismissing advice and claimed that his leadership style had eroded the transparency and professionalism needed to manage Ghana’s premier football team effectively.

Afriyie stated the symbolic importance of the Black Stars, describing them as a unifying force for Ghanaians that transcends political, tribal and religious divisions. 

“The Black Stars of Ghana is the number one sporting brand in our country... it is one thing that unifies us, so if you are the head of the FA, that kind of single brand you don’t need to joke with it but I think that Kurt is running the FA as if his personal Dreams FC," he emphasised. 

The former vice-president also criticised the lack of inclusiveness in decision-making, claiming that even members of the GFA’s Executive Council were often unaware of key developments, such as how Mohammed Kudus was appointed captain for a single match.

"These current executives, sometimes you ask them (about things happening in the FA) and they say they are not aware. I can tell you that members of the Executive Council and the members of the Black Stars Management Committee didn’t even know how Kudus became captain for a single match," he alleged.

Afriyie took aim at the player selection process, alleging favouritism and the sidelining of deserving talents. He cited the example of Musah Mohammed, a regular for Turkish Super Lig side Bodrumspor, who had been overlooked despite his consistent performances as a defensive midfielder and centre-back.

“They went to Sweden to pick a player, but they don’t know that there’s a player, Musah Mohammed, who is a regular in the Turkish Super Lig,” Afriyie said, adding: “It shows that what they are doing is serving someone’s interest and not Ghana’s interest.”

"It will be difficult for anybody to tell me they don’t know that Musah Mohammed of Bodrumspor is a regular player in the Turkish Super Lig and a very good defensive midfielder and a centre-back," he said.

The former GFA Vice-President contrasted the current system with past practices, where the FA employed a video analyst to track the performances of Ghanaian players abroad and provided weekly updates to ensure top-performing players were noticed by national team selectors.

Afriyie also criticised the lack of accountability within the current GFA administration, pointing to a disconnect between executives and the management of the national team.

“In the past, executives like Randy Abbey, the late Jordan Anagbla and Fred Pappoe would boldly advise and correct Kwesi Nyantakyi when he went wrong. That is missing now,” he remarked.