Abdul Salam defends Avram Grant

Management Member of the Black Starlets, Abdul Salam Yakubu insists Avram Grant is not to be blamed for the Black Stars’ woes.

The Israeli coach has been under enormous pressure recently in the wake of the Black Stars’ failure to record a victory in their last four matches, and this has triggered football populace to call for his head.

However, Abdul Salam believes that the bane of the team in recent time stems from the ongoing impasse between the nation’s football governing body and the sports ministry and also the purported unrest between the two captains of the team.

In an interview with Happy FM’s Anopa Bosuo sports, he said. “It baffles me when I hear people pointing fingers at Avram Grant. What at all has the man done wrong to deserve such treatment.”

“We cannot put any blame on the man because I see the Black Stars problem as our own doing. If there’s a problem, I believe the only thing we have to do is to sit down and talk as civilised people and not to churn our grievances on the airwaves.”

“History tells us that when there’s no unity in the Black Stars, the team suffers. Look at what happened in the Prince Poli, Abedi Pele and Tony Yeboah’s era. That should tell us that team unity brings success. When we played in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, you could see that there was unity and harmony in the side and that propelled us to the quarter finals.”

“If all the stakeholders in the game do not come together and find an amicable solution, the Black Stars will plunge into more deeper problem than we’re seeing now and we’ll not do anything in the AFCON and the World Cup qualifier.”

The Black Stars will face the Pharaoh’s of Egypt in Alexandria on November 13 in the second match of the qualifiers to the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup.