It is shameful - Dr Nyaho Tamakloe slams Black Stars selection criteria

Dr Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe has waded into the selection criteria of players into the senior national team, the Black Stars describing the recent call up as 'shameful'.

The 28 man squad named by the CK Akonnor, who is the head coach of the team has dominated the headlines with many Ghanaian football fans questioning some names on the list.

According to Dr Tamakloe, the practice where some FA members had formed a cabal and ensured that players associated with their clubs were given priority during national team call-ups would undermine the efforts to revive the national team and further challenged the criteria for call-up handed to some players.

Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe took the national coach to task and demanded why Dreams FC defender Philemon Baffuor, for instance, would warrant a call-up ahead of other players rated ahead of the youngster in the country.

He again questioned the rationale behind the decision to drop Diawisie Taylor, Karela United's talisman and the Premier League's leading goal scorer with 12 goals, while Dreams' midfielder Joseph Esso -- who has scored nine goals in the league -- has a place in Akonnor's squad.

"If Diawisie Taylor is leading the current goal-king chart is there a justification to pick Joseph Esso ahead of him, or is it because Esso plays for Dreams FC so he must, at all cost, be in the national team even if he doesn’t deserve to be there?” he queried.

The Hearts of Oak board member also argued that if such practice was not immediately halted the future of football in the country looked bleak and would continue to stagnate for a long time to come.

"What is happening now clearly shows that their clamour for positions in the current FA management was not borne out of just a genuine desire to help the growth of football but also out of their parochial interest. This is shameful because this path they're treading will soon kill football in the country," he told Graphic Sports.

"This is not good for Ghana football and that has affected even the selection of our Black Stars players.

"The rot has started once again from the top where it is becoming a norm and all these people who are fighting to get to the presidency and executive positions have all got individual players that they either manage or sponsor," the former Ghana Football Association chairman added.

Ghana are currently preparing to face South Africa on March 25 before hosting Sao Tome and Principe on March 28 in the final round of the qualifiers.

The Black Stars will be hosted by the Bafana Bafana at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg before playing Sao Tome at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Ghana sit top of Group C with 9 points and need just a point to seal their qualification for the tournament that will be hosted in Cameroon next year.