Djukovic rejects contract extension

Accra, July 14, GNA -- Black Stars head coach, Ratomir Djukovic is said to have refused an offer of contract extension from his employers, the Ghana Football Association, (GFA) citing an intolerant media for his position.

Djukovic's contract runs until December and the Serbian says the 'unaccommodating' media has ensured he exits at the end of the year. The GNA Sports can confirm that the coach who led the Black Stars to the second round of the just-ended World Cup in Germany has congealed his position on the matter.

The two parties had been locked up in series of meetings aimed at extending the coach's contract until 2008 since the latter arrived from his home country, Serbia last Sunday.

Djukovic, according to a close source was said to have apologised to the GFA about his stand insisting that 91my decision goes beyond you'.

The GFA was hoping to keep the coach who stayed under the microscope after the Stars abysmal performance at the Nations Cup in Egypt and his unpopular outburst with the Bild, a German-based newspaper ahead of the World Cup.

The coach's lost love, according to him was born out of what he termed the undeserved accusation and criticism from a section of the local media after the Nations Cup.

Information pieced together by the GNA Sports indicates that the GFA would soon go shopping for the former Rwanda coach's replacement. Djukovic turned a hero after leading the Ghanaians to a debut Mundial last year but received various criticisms over his tactics after the Nations Cup.

He was accused of managing some players - something many claimed influenced his selection into the national team.

A call for his dismissal became the popular chorus after a series of under-performance by the Black Stars in their build up to the World Cup plus his interview with The Bild, where he was quoted as saying Black Africans were indiscipline.

Djukovic is linked with a move to his native Serbia, who like Ghana made their maiden World Cup appearance in Germany among other countries from the Gulf Region.

He landed the Stars job in 2004 after Portuguese Mariano Barreto abscond, citing similar reasons.

The coach would however be on the bench in the Stars next assignment against the Super Eagles of Nigeria in an international friendly in the United Kingdom next month.