The Executive Committee of the GFA held meetings late last week to consider some issues affecting the game in the country.
Below are some of the key decisions taken.
CAF Visit to Ghana: The Confederation of African Football (CAF)’s Executive Committee will visit Ghana next month led by the body’s President Ahmad Ahmad. The delegation will arrive in Ghana on 21st September and will pay a courtesy call on the President of the Republic of Ghana His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The delegation will also hold various meeting before attending the Wafu Cup of Nations final on 24th September.
WAFU Cup of Nations: The Executive Committee received a briefing from the tournament’s LOC about preparations so far for the competition to be held in Cape Coast and Takoradi next month. Preparations are far advanced for Ghana to host the 15 countries. The Management of the Black Stars B was tasked to ensure the team’s adequate preparation for the competition.
Black Stars: Ghana will face Congo in two back-to-back matches from Friday. The first leg will be played in Kumasi with the return leg scheduled on Brazzaville on 5th September. The Black Stars will start camping in Kuamsi on Monday in preparation for the two matches.
Black Stars & Black Stars B coaching: The Executive Committee decided that given the closeness in the start of the Wafu Nations Cup and the Black Stars back-to-back World Cup qualifiers against Congo, there should be two separate coaching staff for the two matches. Coach Kwesi Appiah and Ibrahim Tanko will concentrate on the Black Stars’ World Cup qualifiers while Maxwell Konadu and Dauda Lutterodt will coach the Black Stars B to ensure the team is adequately prepared for the Wafu Cup of Nations.
Konadu will re-join the Black Stars technical team after the Wafu Cup of Nations.
Improving relationship between clubs and National Teams: The Executive Committee has tasked National Team coaches to build a rapport with the coaches of clubs in the country to share information about players. The medical department of all the National Teams have also been asked build a bond with the medics of the clubs in the supreme interest of players.
Black Starlets: The National U17 side are in the final stages of their preparations for the World Cup to be played in India in October. The team is currently in camp at Prampram and will embark on a foreign training tour to boost the preparation for the competition. The destination of the pre-tournament will be confirmed in due course.
Black Princesses: The draw for the U20 women’s World Cup has been completed with Ghana facing Algeria over two legs next month. The first leg will be played in Algeria on 15 September with the second leg scheduled for 29th September. The squad has started camping in Prampram ahead of the start of the qualifiers.
Second Division League: The Executive Committee decided that regions with high numbers of second division leagues clubs must step up efforts to reduce the number of clubs to 48 within the next two years. This is to ensure that the leagues are effectively managed while injecting quality into clubs playing in the leagues. Clubs have also been asked to reduce the number of registered players to 40 per team to ensure that players are effectively coached in order to bring out the best in them.
Player registration system: The Executive Committee decided to forge ahead with plans of decentralising the registration of players in the lower tiers of the game to the regional FAs. A three-man committee has been set up to examine the efficacy of this concept as it seeks to rid the GFA headquarters’ IT department of the backlog difficulties of player registration at the start of every season.
U15 Regional Championship format: The Executive Committee is considering a new format for the U15 Regional Football Championship. A proposal to form regional teams instead of clubs to play in the National Championship will be considered after the success of the first edition.
