Nyantakyi's bombshell - FA to join player selection
FA boss, Kwesi Nyantakyi, has stated categorically that Coach Kwasi Appiah’s decision to settle for only players who play regularly for their clubs would be tampered with under extreme circumstances.
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Nyantakyi dropped the bombshell in an interview with the Graphic Sports after the Glo-CAF Awards in Lagos last Friday, insisting that the status quo would be changed depending on the quality of the player(s) involved.
“That rule will be tampered with with some exceptions in exceptional circumstances. It all depends on the calibre of the player involved, his experience and input when he plays for the Black Stars, then we can consider him,” he explained.
He stressed that there was a difference between a player having a club and not playing regularly, and not having a club at all.
“If you have a club and you don’t play, it is different from somebody who doesn’t have a club at all; that makes it difficult, and in that case the coach has to explain why.”
He made particular reference to the former Stars skipper, John Mensah, who had featured prominently in recent debates regarding his quality vis-a-vis the team’s defensive problems, describing him as an asset to the nation in his active days.
“John Mensah is a very dependable central defender; about the best in his position during his playing days. If he is playing for a club today and he is not even regular he can be considered, but if he is not playing at all it is dangerous,” he emphasised.
Nyantakyi also hailed the current craze of transfers among Ghanaian players in Europe as a positive desperation in a bid to catch the attention of Coach Appiah ahead of the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup.
“I think it is a positive desperation because they are all trying to catch the attention of the coach and also maintain their form for the World Cup. It is a positive move the players are making.
“If you are in a club and you are not getting enough playing time, it will show when you come to the national team; but wherever you are, even with a small club and you are getting playing time, it has a better impact on the national team,” he noted.
Nyantakyi, who doubles as the chairman of the Black Stars Management Commitee, said the situation was not peculiar to Ghana and, therefore, encouraged players to move from big clubs where they were not getting playing time to small clubs where they would enjoy more playing time.
“I hope the coach would select the best, and whoever he selects to make up his final 23 I will support it,” he assured.
He hinted that the FA would announce a comprehensive package regarding the Stars’ roadmap to the 2014 World Cup, including scouts, medical team, coaching staff, friendly matches, and camping base, among others, in the next couple of weeks.
“Our target is to go beyond the benchmark we set for ourselves at the last World Cup (quarter-finals). Personally, I’m even looking forward to seeing Ghana become the first African country to win the World Cup trophy,” Nyantakyi predicted.
GFA's reaction
The Ghana Football Association's attention has been drawn to an article published by the Graphic Sports on 17th January 2014 headlined - 'Nyantakyi's Bombshell: FA to join in player selection'.
We wish to state categorically that the article's headline and some parts of the story are misleading as the GFA President Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi never said the GFA will tamper or interfere in the selection of players into the Black Stars.
Mr. Nyantakyi only re-echoed coach Kwesi Appiah's policy that players who are club-less will not be considered for Black Stars selection.
Mr. Nyantakyi’s response was in a question asked by the Graphic Sports reporter whether all inactive players will be considered for selection for the World Cup, a policy the reporter claimed was set by the coach when he was appointed.
But the GFA President answered the question by stating that, that policy has a caveat.
Mr. Nyantakyi said players who are club-less will not be considered while players with clubs who aren't playing regularly will be considered under certain circumstances.
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The GFA President's direct response to the question whether all inactive players will be considered for selection for the World Cup was: "That rule will be tampered with, with some exceptions in exceptional circumstances. It all depends on the calibre of player involved, his experience and input when he plays for the Black Stars, then we can consider him.
"If you have a club and you don't play it is different from somebody who doesn't have a club at all; that makes it difficult, and in that case the coach has to explain why."
From this direct quotes from Mr Nyantakyi it is clear that he never said the GFA will interfere with the selection of players into the Black Stars.
In fact we support coach Kwesi Appiah's policy about club-less players, a view the Black Stars coach expressed in a recent interview with Metro FM in Kumasi which was widely published on the internet and in some newspapers in Ghana.
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We want to assure the public that the coach has a free hand to choose his own players and that the GFA has NEVER interfered in his job and we will NOT interfere in the coach's selection of players.
Ghana FA Communications Division
• This is published unedited