GFA Scouts For New Black Stars Coach

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has constituted a five-member committee to scout for a new head coach for the country’s senior national male team, the Black Stars.

This was announced on Thursday, January 25, 2024, in a statement.

The committee which is headed by Vice President of the GFA, Mark Addo is tasked with the role of finding a potential head coach proven to be a winner in coaching top men’s national teams or football clubs.

Among the specs of the GFA is a football manager with a football philosophy that aligns or complements the country’s DNA, the highest football license in the world with over 15 years of coaching experience, a proven track record in team reconstruction, organization, and development of young talent, and with proven disciplinarian, tactician, and leadership skills.

Members of the constituted Committee include Legal Practitioner and Law Lecturer Ace Ankomah (Vice Chairman), the Director of Coaching Education of the GFA, Professor Joseph Kwame Mintah, Ghana football legend Opoku Nti and the Chief Director of the Ministry of Youth and Sports William Caesar Kartey.

The committee has three weeks to recommend the next Black Stars coach to the Executive Council for approval.

It comes after the country parted ways with Chris Hughton who was appointed in the stead of Otto Addo in February 2023 and dissolved the technical team.

The termination of the contract of the Irish football manager became imperative on January 23 after the Black Stars’ disappointing exit from the ongoing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cote d’Ivoire at the group stage.

The senior national team failed to win any of their three games in the AFCON exiting with two points after drawing two games and losing one.

Hughton superintended over 13 matches as Black Stars head coach, with a record of four wins, five draws and four losses.

Many Ghanaians have welcomed his departure but believe there is more to the disappointing performance of the team than with the coach.

Some have called for the dissolution of the GFA, with some calling for the utilization of local players for international tournaments and campaigns.

The Black Stars are scheduled to take on Mali and Central Africa Republic between June 3 and 11 in their next 2026 World Cup qualifier following their win and loss respectively against Madagascar and Comoros in their opening qualifiers in November 2023.