The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has refused to renew the contract of Kwasi Appiah, the coach of the senior national soccer team, Black Stars, upon the expiration in December.
Kwasi Appiah is therefore now a free agent after the GFA’s decision which defied efforts championed by President Akufo-Addo to ensure he stays on as national coach till 2022.
The GFA fired Appiah by a broad stroke decision to suspend all the national soccer teams and, “the technical teams of all national teams with immediate effect.”
“The decision affects both male and female national teams,” the GFA said on its website.
“The GFA extends its appreciation to all coaches and members of the respective national teams for their contributions to our teams and Ghana football.
“We wish them all the best in their endeavours,” the GFA said in a statement.
Appiah leaves the job on the note of a not too glorious swansong at the helm of the Black Stars. Ghana exited the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt at the round 16 stage. This was the team’s worst performance at the AFCON since 2006.
Earlier, he had also been coach during Ghana’s disappointing performance at the World Cup in Brazil, where the country made international news by flying US$3million from Ghana to the South American country to pay players who demanded to be paid before they would play.
Following from the Egypt AFCON disaster, many pundits called for the sack of the coach, however, in August 2019, news emerged that President Akufo-Addo had ordered the GFA Normalization Committee to maintain Appiah as Black Stars Coach.
Appiah was said to have subsequently met with President Akufo-Addo on July 30, 2019, and discussed his future as coach, with news emerging that he was going to stay on till 2022.
However, all those speculations came to an end yesterday when the GFA dissolved all the national soccer teams.