Mr. Kwasi Nyantakyi, the President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has jumped to the defense of Frenchman Phillippe Troussier, one of the three coaches short-listed for the vacant Black Stars job.
In Mr. Nyantakyi's view, it is prejudicial to judge Troussier by his past 'sins' and therefore advocates for all three men to be judged by their current status.
In 2004, Troussier failed to turn up for the same job after being short-listed together with two others including the eventual coach, Ratomir Dujkovic. This was seen by many as a sign of disregard for Ghanaian football fans. Others say that the man simply turned his back on Ghana at the time the country needed him most in favour of an offer from French side, Olympic Marseille.
Now, two years down the line, the Frenchman has been short-listed again, this time, together with fellow countryman, Claude Le Roy and Ghanaian Cecil Jones Attuquayefio for the Black Stars job, which became vacant after Serbian, Ratomir Dujkovic resigned in July.
The development has led to several questions being raised about Troussier's inclusion in the short list, with many wondering whether he would honour the interview this time around. Many soccer fans think, and rightly so that Troussier may have coached many teams in Africa, but he has nothing to show.
However, the GFA President thinks differently. He says the nine-man committee tasked with the responsibility of hiring a new coach for the Stars could do a better job if it approaches the issue from a different perspective.
Speaking on a sports programme on Joy Fm, an Accra-based radio station last weekend, Mr. Nyantakyi observed that it is proper to consider each of the candidates from a positive point of view.
He explained that the Frenchman informed the GFA of his inability to attend the interview and requested its postponement. However, the GFA could not grant his request, hence his absence from the interviewing process.
The GFA President also hinted that expatriate coaches, if hired, would not be accommodated in hotels any more. Authorities, according to him, will soon provide a well furnished and secured permanent accommodation for anyone; local or foreign, who would assume the mantle of coaching the Stars.
Meanwhile, the process to recruit a new coach for the Black Stars is at the due diligence stage, where the committee is gathering background information about the short-listed coaches, after which the three men would be interviewed. The successful candidate is supposed to be named in the next three weeks.
