Former Black Stars coach, Kwasi Appiah, has described Dr Kofi Amoah, president of the now-defunct Normalisation Committee as a man who lacked respect for him during his tenure as head coach of the national team.
Speaking on Prime Take with Muftawu Nabila Abdulai on the Joy News channel, Appiah said Dr Amoah tried pushing him to have Sulley Muntari and Kevin Prince Boateng in his team for the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt.
“He [Dr Kofi Amoah] suggested that [I bring back Sulley Muntari and Kevin Prince Boateng to the Black Stars].”
Sulley Muntari and Kevin Prince Boateng were sacked from the Black Stars in 2014 for what many said was unsportsmanlike behaviour during the Brazil World Cup.
Sulley, for instance, was kicked out of camp for assaulting then-management committee member, Moses Armah Parker, while Kevin was sacked for using foul language against Appiah during a training session.
They both apologised to the GFA, Ghanaians and the coach, but have since been left out of the team.
But, Dr Amoah wanted them back for the AFCON in Egypt.
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“He thought Sulley [Muntari] and Kevin [Prince Boateng] should be part of the team, but you have to ask yourself whether these players you are talking about, are they playing actively, and if they are, are they in top form to compete at that level?
“I think they were very good players, especially Sulley, anytime he’s in the team, he gives out 100%, but you don’t tell me to go and bring them as if I don’t know what I am doing; if you are better than the coach, you should have been the coach and be coaching the team.”
After the 2013 AFCON semi-finalists rejected his suggestion, it appears insisted on having them in the team, a move he felt was disrespectful to him.
“The moment he tried to stress that point more, it means you are trying to tell me I don’t know my job, and his posture showed he has no respect,” he noted.
He revealed that the Normalisation Committee chief threatened to sack him if he refused to call the duo, but he was not perturbed.
“He threatened to sack me but I told him I am not afraid of being sacked. Those threats, I have heard them several times but I’m not the type that those threats get to me,” he stated.
Kwasi Appiah’s contract ended in December 2019 and was not renewed by the current GFA leadership headed by Kurt Okraku.
He is seeking a third stint with the national team after submitting an application for the vacant coaching role after the exit of Otto Addo who led the team to the World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
