Coach Duncan refutes publication

Accra, Nov. 5, GNA - Coach David Duncan, helmsman of the national under-17 soccer team, the Black Starlets has refuted a newspaper publication which sought to suggest that there was a bad blood between him (the coach) and the Chairman of the Management Committee, Felix Ansong.

A statement issued by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and signed by Kofi Nsiah, General Secretary said the coach made the denial at an FA meeting with the Starlets Management Committee which he contested ever accusing Ansong of undue interference.

The coach was reported to have resisted the imposition of Alan Shearer, an alleged player of Ansong on him, which allegedly sparked off the row a couple of weeks ago.

The statement issued on Friday said: "This denial has cleared any mistrust or suspicion that the said publication sought to create between the technical team and the management committee as the team prepares to play against Tunisia on November 21 in Kumasi".

Mr Kwesi Nyantakyie, Vice Chairman of the GFA, told the GNA Sports on Thursday that the FA has resolved the feud between the two. He said the two parties agreed to let sleeping dogs lie in the interest of the team.

Subsequently, the two personalities were advised to refrain from any media war in order not to "rock the boat." The Starlets are currently in camp preparing for the first leg of their final qualifying match against the north Africans at the Kumasi Sports Stadium towards the Africa championship to be staged in Gambia next year.

The team is billed to move to Kumasi soonest to round off preparations for the crucial match.