Technical bench to be punished - Afriyie

Black Stars management committee chairman George Afriyie says there could be sanctions for the technical bench of the Ghana national team for failing to confirm the state of the Accra Sports Stadium pitch before the team turned up for training on Monday.

This means assistant coach Maxwell Konadu and team manager Sabahn Quaye could be grilled over the incident that restricted the team's training on Monday which left the players fuming.

The Black Stars players almost boycotted their opening training session ahead of their 2018 World Cup qualifier against Comoros over the deplorable state of the pitch.

The pitch has been left unattended to due to a strike action instigated by workers of Green Grass Technology managers of the pitch - over unpaid entitlements for work done running into years by the National Sports Authority.

Black Stars players, most of whom are used to training on superior pitches were stunned to report for training on a deplorable surface and threatened through their captain not to turn up for training at the same venue if conditions were not improved.

George Afriyie who was then at the Ghana FA Congress at the Ghanaman School of Excellence in Prampram had to arrange for the groundsmen of Liberty Professionals to work in restoring the pitch to a satisfactory stage for the team to train the following day.

The Black Stars management committee chairman however concedes what appears to have been negligence on the part the key members of the backroom staff who were tasked to ensure a good training pitch was secured for the team will not go unnoticed.

Yes I must admit that clearly someone did not do his job well and we will take this up at the appropriate forum, Afriyie told GHANAsoccernet.com.

There is division of roles when it comes to management of the Black Stars and everyone is expected to discharge his role efficiently.

What happened the other day was easily avoidable has the one in charge done verification before the team even went to training and I can assure you it is something we will look at.

Maxwell Konadu remains the only member of the Black Stars technical team except Avram Grants who is paid on a monthly basis.

But the team's welfare issues and preparation are supposed to be handled by the team manager who is Sabahn Quaye.