Sports
Ghana FA To Decide On Coach Stevanovic, This Week
Ghana’s Football Association (GFA) says it has deferred “the final decision” on the future of coach Goran Stevanovic until this week.
The Executive Committee met last Thursday where the discussion centred on whether the Serb should continue his post.
The GFA says it will meet with the Black Stars boss next week, after which a final decision will be announced.
A decision had initially been expected on Wednesday but this was delayed by 24 hours to allow the GFA to meet again.
“We have decided to call an emergency Executive Committee meeting to address some outstanding issues,” GFA president Kwesi Nyantakyi was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
“We want to make sure that when a decision is taken, it is in the best interest of the country. We want every blade of grass covered,” Nyantakyi told the GFA’s official website.
“We are sorry for the delay but it is necessary for the best decision to be taken,” added Nyantakyi, whose body has sought the opinions of many stakeholders in the past month.
The coach has come under intense pressure since his side failed to win the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year.
Heavily fancied before the tournament, the Black Stars Ghana lost 1-0 to eventual champions Zambia in the Nations Cup semi-final – before being beaten by Mali in the third-place play-off match.
On 22 February, the GFA met to analyse the team’s performance in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon – saying afterwards it would study the details of Stevanovic’s contract before deciding whether to keep him or not.
The 45-year-old’s current deal expires in January 2013, the same month as next year’s Nations Cup will be held.
The championship will run from today to October 12 at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia. On the ground for the championship are athletes from Brazil, Peru, Egypt, Cameroon, Tunisia, Nigeria, Mauritius and Rwanda. They arrived on Sunday.
Some of the other countries were expected in the Abia State capital yesterday. Speaking on the championship, yesterday, Abia State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Nwobilor Ananaba, said the chief host, Governor Alex Otti, has mobilised facilities and the personnel to ensure a successful event.
Speaking through the Special Assistant to the Governor on Sports, Raymond Chima Ukwa, said: “We have the best mats, playing mats, especially the wheelchair playing mats, which is the first of its kind in West Africa.
“If you go around, you’ll see the hall and the preparation that has been made to ensure that people have an equitable world-class playing field.” Thrilled by Governor Otti’s support for the competition, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) President, Francis Orbih, said that, besides making all the necessary arrangements that will ensure a successful hosting of the events, “we will have a Para-Badminton workshop for coaches and players.
“Nigeria is doing well, Abia is doing well, and we want to do better to improve on where we are, which is why all these have been put together by Governor Otti.”
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles began their campaign at the 24th FIFA U20 World Cup with a narrow 1–0 loss to Norway on Monday, despite creating several opportunities to level the game.
Norway took the lead in the 9th minute after being awarded a controversial penalty. The Flying Eagles pressed for an equaliser but were denied two penalty claims in the second half.
Kparobo Arierhi came close in the 47th minute when his shot drifted wide with the goalkeeper beaten, while Tahir Maigana struck the upright in the 63rd minute.
Nasiru Salihu’s rising effort in the 71st minute also went narrowly over the bar, drawing gasps from the crowd.
Seven minutes from time, Maigana again tested Norway with a long-range strike that went just wide as Nigeria continued to pile on the pressure.
Despite their dominance, the Flying Eagles could not find the breakthrough and now turn their attention to Thursday’s clash against Saudi Arabia in their second group match.
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