Too much talk could ruin Ghana’s chances - Ben Koufie

Ex-Ghana FA chief Ben Koufie says the recent negative discussions in the Ghanaian media on the Black Stars could destroy the chances of the national team at the World Cup in Brazil in June.

Since the Black Stars qualified for the World Cup in November, a section of the Ghanaian media has embarked on a campaign.

This has culminated in heated media discussions over player selection, appointment of foreign assistant for coach Kwesi Appiah and the false speculation of the dismissal of the entire backroom staff of the Black Stars.

The players have also not been spared in the debates as some have described them as ‘greedy’ over their demands for appearance fees which is the norm with several countries appearing at the tournament in Brazil.

In the past few weeks there have been talks about the budget for the World Cup as well as taking the wives and girlfriends of the players to the tournament in Brazil. Ghana is making its third successive appearance at the World Cup and Koufie says the discussions fuelled by the media could have disastrous consequences for the Black Stars at the World Cup.

“Ghanaians always talk too much about unnecessary issues. If it is not budget, it is about the coach and now people are discussing whether the players should take their wives to the World Cup or not,” the former GFA boss told Metro FM.

“What people are doing makes it looks like Ghana is participating in the World Cup for the first time or something has come from heaven which has never happened before.

“This is Ghana’s third appearance at the Mundial and even in Ghana’s maiden appearance in the competition people did not behave this way.

“All these discussions will confuse the whole atmosphere. How can the characters involved in the Black Stars keep a study head under this condition? If we are not careful everything would be destroyed before the World Cup.

“Did the players send their wives to the two previous World Cups? Some of them bought tickets for their wives and that is fine and it is not a new thing for it to merit discussions everywhere.”

Ghana are facing a tough task at the World Cup as they will play Germany, Portugal and USA.