GFA did not give CK Akonnor free hands to work as Black Stars coach - Derek Boateng

A former midfielder, Derek Boateng has criticized the Ghana Football Association [GFA] about how CK Akonnor was treated as Black Stars coach.

The former Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak manager replaced Kwesi Appiah on a two-year deal but was sacked after losing to South Africa in the 2022 World Cup Qualifier in September 2021.

However, Boateng, who played at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa believes that Akonnor was not given the freedom to operate independently and was held accountable for things that were not his ideas.

“I feel they didn’t help CK Akonnor at all. They controlled things for him but kicked him out when it went bad, and that’s really, really bad. I heard CK [Akonnor] complaining to someone I was close to, and that’s not the best," he told Asempa FM.

Boateng further added that Akonnor struggled due to the lack of investment by the Ghana FA.

According to him, the association could have supported Akonnor’s development by allowing him to expand his coaching knowledge through attachments to teams like Manchester City and Liverpool during national team off-seasons.

“If we invest in him, we will benefit from it. I feel they were supposed to support him to expand his knowledge in coaching by embarking on attachments in teams like Manchester City and Liverpool, but the FA doesn’t do that. That is what Senegal, Cameroon, and Morocco are all doing for national team coaches,” he added.

Akonnor was replaced by Milovan Rajevac but the Serbian was sacked after a disappointing AFCON campaign in Cameroon.

Otto Addo was given the mantle but the Borussia Dortmund talent trainer resigned following Black Stars' early exit at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Chris Hughton, who served as the technical advisor of the team has been appointed as Black Stars on 21-month deal.