GFA replies Palmer’s ‘ill-informed, below the belt’ comments

A comment by the owner of Tema Youth which sought to dismiss the gains of the current GFA administration has been vehemently rejected by association.

Osei Kwaku Palmer on Friday passed a damming verdict on the Kurt Okraku’s GFA, positing that ‘nothing has changed since they took over’ almost six months ago.

Palmer in an interview with Asempa FM premised his argument on the ‘rushed’ start of the league, the lack of sponsorship and several other reasons.

His condemnatory comments have been debunked by the spokesperson of the Ghana Football Associations, Henry Asante Twum.

Henry Asante Twum first recognized the locus of the Tema Youth chief as one whose contribution to the nation’s football cannot be over-emphasized before drawing out the dagger to punch holes in his argument.

Describing Palmer’s assertions as ‘ill-informed, not factual and below the belt’, the former EIB Network Sports editor scolded the veteran soccer administrator for not speaking to facts.

Asante Twum did not only rubbish the submissions of Palmer but also listed some achievements of the new administration in their limited and disaster-plagued period of six months.

“Whatever he(Palmer) said were his opinions but some of the issues he raised were not factual. If you say someone who assumed office in the last 6 months has done nothing, then I think it is below the belt”.

“Football is broad, did he touch on administration, did he touch on marketing, did he touch on communication, did he touch on infrastructure, did he touch on support for clubs” Asante Twum quizzed.

“If you analyse the issues as per the individual facets of the industry and address them accordingly, then we can make proper and scientific analysis”.

“If he says nothing has changed, what specifically was he talking about, and that is where my worry is”, he remarked.

Palmer who once served as Management Committee Chairman of the Black Stars has revealed that officials of the GFA influence national team selections. He told Graphic Sports in an interview that the situation has existed for ages.

He, however, failed to state if he has in the past influenced a coach to pick his players owing to the fact players of Tema Youth club have constantly featured in the nation’s youth teams.