Characters within or around the Ghana Football Association (GFA) who smear Asante Kotoko with spurious allegations of player imposition on the coach by the Management, must not be taken seriously when the same people can’t take similar accusations that the President of the GFA has unduly been interfering in Black Stars’ player selection.
Evidence of such a corrupt practice is as clear as daylight yet close associates of the GFA deny it. It doesn’t matter to them even when a former Black Stars coach says interference in player selection at the senior national team is public knowledge.
This is why the talk that there’s a “sporting director” who dictates player selection to Coach Seydou Zerbo should be rejected. If there’s any truth in that, then the so-called Kotoko sporting director might’ve taken good lessons from his or her GFA friends who’re unshakeable in their conviction that interest in local football isn’t dead.
They can’t admit the painful truth publicly but thankfully they were witnesses to Sunday’s Super Clash – the poorest ever in many respects. The Kurt Okraku-led FA can’t be proud of that. The stadium was a quarter full and that was even because of the last-minute announcement that fans could come in free of charge, exposing the abysmal organisation of the biggest game on the league calendar.
Kickoff time was pushed back for fans turning in late. Security was okay but that was mainly because of President Akufo Addo’s presence. The football was colourless and brilliant play from either Hearts or Kotoko sparsely distributed. The fact that Kotoko has a coach wasn’t seen. Hearts, being coachless in reality, unplugged a vein for victory.
Kotoko supporters can’t be faulted if they think the referee was bias. I doubt if the GPL referees are deliberately unfair against Kotoko. I’m sure however, that, the referees are just bad. Majority of them don’t have the confidence to take fair and firm decisions.
So, if I’m part of the FA or I’ve any proximity to the FA President, watching Sunday’s Super Clash, I’ll be pained by how fans have deserted my biggest league fixture. I’ll be disappointed that my referees are weak in their professional convictions. I’ll be sad by the quality of football played by my two biggest clubs by any account.
I wouldn’t take pedestrian walks to twitter. I’ll be hurt over the deserted Super Clash. I’ll reflect on the sharp decline concerning interest in local football under my reign and seek a revival. I won’t gleefully gallivant on social media, mock and throw spurious allegations because for me, the real mockery of our football would’ve been what unfolded beneath my eyes at the Super Clash. Those are the things that matter, and which must’ve attention.