Kwesi Appiah to continue as Black Stars coach as Akufo-Addo prefers local coach - Report

President Akufo-Addo and his government prefer a local coach to a foreigner to manage the Black Stars in order to maintain a succession plan, Ghanacrusader.com can authoritatively report.

And strong indications are that current coach James Kwesi Appiah will be maintained.

Kwesi Appiah arrived at the Jubilee House, seat of government, alone yesterday and held a closed-door meeting with the Ghanaian leader.

Jubilee House unimpeachable sources revealed to Ghanacrusader.com that the discussion was centred on the coach’s long-term future with the national team following the country’s calamitous campaign in Egypt.

The former Asante Kotoko defender’s future has become a topic of discussion following Ghana’s early exit from the AFCON. While some Ghanaians want him out, others, including influential apparatchiks of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) hold that the coach can’t be blamed for the team’s poor performance in Egypt.

Titus Glover, NPP’s member of parliament for Tema East, said in Parliament last Wednesday that it would be unfair to blame Kwesi Appiah for the Black Stars second-round exit. He urged Ghanaians to encourage their fellow citizen to excel instead of condemning him and going for a foreign coach. He submitted strongly that all four AFCON titles won by Ghana came from local coaches.

Appiah was offered a new deal by the Normalization Committee following the expiration of his initial two-year contract. He has four months left on his contract as the head coach of the Black Stars.

However, in the face of intense public condemnation, the President, Sports Ministry and the Ghana Football Normalization Committee (NC) are said to have consented to hand him a long term contract.

Despite a poor show at the AFCON, the NPP government reportedly still believes in Coach Appiah’s ability to lead Ghana’s quest to end the nation’s trophy famine.

It was further established by the close sources that, the Akufo-Addo led government has no interest in putting pressure on the coach, but will rather provide the necessary mechanism to facilitate his role in achieving the nation’s quest.

Ghana’s Africa Cup of Nation four titles have been won by local coaches such as Charles Kumi Gyamfi who became the first coach to win the African Cup of Nations on three occasions, making him the most outstanding coach to have controlled the dugout of the Black Stars over the years: AFCON 1963, AFCON 1965 and AFCON 1982.

Osam Duoudu and the late E.K Afranie also brought Ghana back to the pinnacle of African football when they guided the team to win the Africa Cup of Nations for keeps in 1978.