Demise of veteran coaches worrying - JE Sarpong

The rate at which very experienced Ghanaian coaches are passing on to glory is worrying, Coach JE Sarpong has said.

According to him, the nation at the moment needs these experienced coaches to impart their knowledge of football to up-and-coming managers, hence their deaths are worrying.

The country on Sunday was hit with the death of Coach Sam Arday, with glowing tributes coming in for the legendary coach. Other coaching legends who have passed on recently are CK Gyamfi, EK Afranie, and Cecil Jones Attuquayefio.

Speaking in an interview with Class Sports on Sunday February 12, Mr Sarpong said: “I must say it’s very alarming the way our legends are dying. It is worrying for all of us and something must be done about it.

“It is a worrying situation because we have youthful coaches coming up and who will they learn from and [where will] they have to learn from these coaches and tap into their experience and expertise? So what experience do they have and who are they looking up to?”

Sam Arday had stints with the Black Stars on different occasions, the last time being in 2004 in an acting capacity. Mr Arday is credited with winning the FIFA U-17 World Cup with the Black Starlets in 1995 and also emerging as the first African coach to win a football medal at the Olympic Games.