Kurt Okraku denies interference claims in national team selections

Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kurt Okraku has firmly denied allegations that the GFA interferes with national team coaches’ decisions, particularly in player selections.

Okraku was addressing a Parliamentary Select Committee on Monday following a petition by Save Ghana Football, a group that protested after the Black Stars’ disappointing group stage exit at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.

“They [national team coaches] have made public statements not once, not twice about the environment this FA has created to enable them to work,” Okraku said, emphasising that coaches, including senior national team head coach Otto Addo, have been given complete freedom to manage their teams.

“Coach Addo has said on platforms that one of the key reasons he accepted to come back is the fact that he is allowed to do the work the way he wants to work.”

Okraku assured the committee that player selection for all national teams, including the Black Stars and Black Queens, is solely the responsibility of the technical teams.

“Players representing Ghana are solely selected by the technical teams of our national teams,” he concluded.

These remarks respond to long-standing claims of GFA influence over coaches, with critics alleging that the association restricts their independence in team management.