Ministry Decides On Le Roy

The controversy surrounding the performance of the Black Stars' coach, Claude Le Roy, is still on, with some pointing accusing fingers at the Ghana Football Association (GFA) management committee members who recommended the coach to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports.

Reports reaching DAILY GUIDE SPORTS indicate that Le Roy, who failed to win the continent's most precious soccer trophy on home soil, was the focus of discussion when the GFA management board met in Accra last Tuesday to deliberate on issues concerning the performance of the national team at the just-ended Nations Cup.

Sources close to the FA revealed that the meeting also centered on matters relating to public outcry that the coach be sacked for what was described as abysmal performance.

The public outcry was in reaction to a statement made by Randy Abbey, a member of the GFA executive committee, at the post-match FA press conference that the FA still had confidence in Le Roy despite the 0-1 loss to Cameroon.

Randy Abbey was said to have explained that the decision regarding the future of Le Roy was yet to be taken, announcing though that the FA was surely going to extend his contract.

Sections of the public believed that whatever pronouncement Randy had made earlier about the coach was the view of the majority of the FA emergency committee members.

He admitted that the contract between the FA and coach Le Roy would certainly come up for discussion at the Executive Committee meeting, saying his earlier statement was because the Stars had a game in hand against Cote d'Ivoire in Kumasi.

“We had to be very cautious to provide leadership to calm issues down to reassure everybody before the match in Kumasi by then,” he explained.

DAILY GUIDE SPORTS gathered that the statement prompted a few reactions from some members of the FA management board who stated that Randy was not the FA Spokesperson and that only the FA General Secretary, Mr. Kofi Nsiah had the mandate to inform the public about FA issues.

A reliable source hinted DAILY GUIDE SPORTS that the FA has completed its part of investigations into the Stars' defeat and the performance of coach Le Roy at the just-ended tournament and has handed over the report to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, which provides the major financial support to the Black Stars. Another reason why the report was given to the Sports Ministry was because it is the institution that accepted the recommendation made by the FA to employ coach Le Roy.

With this latest development, the fate of Claude Le Roy now rests in the hands of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, which is yet to take a decision either to maintain or let him go.

In a related development, Mr. Jordan Ananglah, a member of the FA Executive Committee has said that nobody should allow the presidency of the FA to be ridiculed because the FA President had no knowledge of the statement made by Randy Abbey during that press conference.

“We should have gone to the Boardroom to take such decisions before presenting it to the people of Ghana,” he fumed.

“The FA did not employ the coach in the first place to decide overnight to sack him or extend his contract; it is the Ministry that has the authority to do so,” he concluded.

By Pierre Toto