GFA can’t impose players on coaches – Ibrahim Tanko

Former Black Stars assistant coach, Ibrahim Tanko, has debunked assertions that the Ghana Football Association imposes players on coaches.

With conversations over whether the football administrative body impose players on national team coaches, Tanko stated the GFA can only suggest players to coaches but it’s the coach who makes the final decision on who to invite.

“If they suggest I will look at the player since he is a Ghanaian and we want the best players to go to the tournament. Suggestion is not forcing me to take a particular player,” Coach Ibrahim Tanko stated.

According to him it’s a usual norm for coaches to defend their choice of players to GFA Executive board and explain with conviction why they invited the particular players.

“I can choose my players and sit with the management but I have to defend it,” the former Dortmund player told Joy Sports.

He added, “I don’t think they can force any coach if they don’t want to take a player who he doesn’t want.”

He bemoaned that imposing a player on coaches “would amount to interfering but as I said, I have to convince them based on what I want to play.”

“Everyone is watching football everywhere so all the players who are performing, everyone knows so it even makes it easy for us the coaches to choose the right ones,” Tanko concluded.

The GFA president Kurt Okraku was accused of frustrating the work of coach Akonnor by deciding players to be invited.

But he denied such speculations stating, “Call-ups for all national teams go through processes and these people [Ghanaians] must understand. Gone were those days where one person will wake up one day and there is a call-up. It will never happen again.”