Former Sports Minister Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye has questioned the process that led to the appointment of Carlos Queiroz as head coach of the Black Stars.
His comments come after Ghana suffered a disastrous start to their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying campaign, losing their opening two Group C matches.
Queiroz, who guided Ghana to qualification for the 2026 World Cup in North America, is yet to record a victory in the AFCON qualifiers.
The Black Stars opened their campaign with a 2-0 defeat by Ivory Coast last Thursday before suffering an even more damaging loss against The Gambia on Tuesday.
Ghana took a 2-0 lead at the Accra Sports Stadium but surrendered their advantage before losing 4-2 to the Gambians.
Vanderpuye, who served as Sports Minister from 2015 to 2017, questioned the transparency of the process used by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to appoint Queiroz.
“I don’t trust the procedures, the process by which this coach (Carlos Queiroz) was appointed. When did the Black Stars inform you and me that they were going to look for a coach? They told us they had over 99 applications; all of a sudden, a coach was appointed,” he told Joy FM.
He also questioned whether Queiroz’s profile was suited to the type of team Ghana wanted to build.
“I said this: the sort of Black Stars we are looking at, the age of this coach (Carlos Queiroz), I have studied his profile; he is not the sort of coach (Black Stars needed) unless those who sat in the meeting to consider that application did not know the kind of Black Stars they are looking for,” he added.
Queiroz replaced Otto Addo earlier this year and subsequently guided Ghana to qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
However, the Portuguese coach is now under increasing pressure after the Black Stars’ successive defeats to Ivory Coast and The Gambia left them without a point from their first two Group C matches.
Ghana must now regroup ahead of their next qualifying assignment in October, when they face Somalia in a double-header at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The Black Stars are seeking to return to the AFCON after failing to qualify for the 2025 tournament in Morocco, bringing an end to their run of more than two decades of consecutive appearances at the competition.
