The Ghana Football Association will discuss the possibility of sacking Black Stars coach Chris Hughton at its Executive Council meeting on Friday, November 10, 2023.
Sources say the GFA leadership has already sounded out a significant number of Executive Council members in order to secure their vote, when, not it, it gets to it.
However, a number of the Executive Council members are said to be opposed to the idea of sacking the Black Stars coach just a week before the start of the World Cup qualifiers.
Chris Hughton was expected to name the Black Stars squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Madagascar and Comoros, but the announcement has been delayed.
Although Hughton’s contract will expire at the end of the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, the GFA is prepared to terminate it.
The GFA’s leadership has not hidden their dislike for the Black Stars coach since his appointment.
In July, two members of the GFA’s Executive Council, Dr. Randy Abbey and George Amoako, stated their displeasure with Chris Hughton’s performance.
”We are not too happy; we think there has to be a lot of improvement that needs to be made. We also don’t have all the time in the world, so we need to be fast about it,” Abbey told Takoradi-based Spice FM.
A day before Randy Abbey’s assessment, George Amoako gave his, but he was not as charitable in his assessment of Hughton.
He told Angel FM, ”Have you seen Chris Hughton’s performance? He has played three matches. He hasn’t been impressive.
”If you look at the teams, Madagascar, I went to see the game against Angola, and all the games I have seen, we play under him. I am not really impressed. Let’s pray at least that we will qualify for the 2023 AFCON.”
Later, Ameenu Shardow, the Black Stars team manager, disclosed that his preference for the choice of Black Stars coach was not Chris Hughton.
When asked about his response to these queries, Hughton told Asaase Radio that ”these are political subjects. One thing is, as head coach of this national team, I don’t get involved in politics. My focus is on the team and the team to watch.”
”I always know that there’s politics involved because this is the nature of the game. And this is the enthusiasm and passion that Ghanaians have for football. I’m always confident and comfortable with the conversations that I have. For anything that goes outside of that is for other people to judge; you know, my focus has to be on the team.”
Chris Hughton has won three of the five competitive matches as Black Stars coach, drawing the other two. His only defeats were recorded in last month’s international friendlies with Mexico and the USA.
Ashantibiz