Augustine Arhinful calls for GFA Technical Committee to protect coaches from interference

Former Ghana international Augustine Arhinful has called on the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to establish a dedicated Technical Committee to oversee football-related decisions and protect coaches from interference by club executives.

Arhinful believes the absence of a clearly defined committee to supervise technical matters could undermine the authority of coaches and allow administrators to influence decisions that should be left to football professionals.

Speaking on Ahenfie FM, the former Black Stars striker questioned why the GFA has a Technical Directorate but, to his knowledge, no functioning Technical Committee to oversee technical affairs.

“I think we need to have a Technical Committee of the FA. Because as we speak now, we have an Executive Council. There was a time we had an Executive Committee, and within the Executive Committee, they had an Emergency Committee. They have the Technical Committee of the FA, and then they have all other committees for various national teams,” he said.

Although acknowledging the existence of the GFA’s Technical Directorate, Arhinful insisted that a dedicated committee was needed to provide direction and ensure proper oversight of technical decisions across Ghanaian football.

“This time around, have you heard that the GFA has a Technical Committee? But we have the Technical Directorate. There’s a Technical Directorate. But we don’t have a Technical Committee, not one I know of anyway. But as a Federation, we should have a Technical Committee that will be in charge of all these technical matters,” he added.

Beyond the GFA’s administrative structure, Arhinful criticised what he described as a culture of interference by club executives who finance teams but do not always respect the professional judgement of their coaches.

He argued that coaches should be given the freedom to make decisions on team selection, tactics and other football-related matters without pressure from club officials.

“We are in a country where everyone shares their opinions, so if there is a technical person who knows the work and they speak, we don’t take it. Because those who use their money to fund football think they know more than the technical people they have put in charge of the team,” he said.

The former Black Stars striker also revealed that concerns over interference had discouraged him from pursuing a coaching career, despite holding a CAF Licence A coaching qualification.

Arhinful said he was unwilling to take charge of a team if he could not exercise full control over player selection and other technical decisions.

“This is why I haven’t coached. I am a certified Licence A coach, but I haven’t bothered to try coaching. Because I won’t coach a team, and the chairman of the team will select players for me to use on matchday,” he explained.

He further questioned the fairness of holding coaches responsible for poor results when they are not allowed to make independent decisions about their teams.

According to Arhinful, coaches risk becoming scapegoats for disappointing performances when club executives dictate key decisions but leave them to answer for the outcome.

“Even if I use the players he suggests, and the results don’t favour us, the chairman will turn around and blame me for the results. So I would prefer to stay at home,” he said.