Accumulation Of Fixtures Is Taking A Toll On Players – Kim Grant

Hearts of Oak Head Coach, Kim Grant, has called on the organizers of the Normalization Committee Special Competition to look into the scheduling of games, as in his view, the current structure is beginning to take a huge toll on players physically.

Hearts returned to winning ways in the competition beating Ebusua Dwarfs 2-1 on Wednesday at the Accra Sports Stadium, with former Dwarfs forward Joseph Esso grabbing a brace.

Despite picking up all three points, Hearts were forced into making three changes as Benjamin Afutu, Kojo Obeng Jnr, and Christopher Bonney all left the pitch injured.

The competition schedule is currently such that, teams play a game every three to four days.

Kim Grant has blamed the injuries on the accumulation of fixtures in a short space of time and wants organizers to look into the current mode of scheduling.

“Some of the players are just not used to this, and I’m not talking about just our players. As you saw the fatigue is setting in. Look at the amount of injuries today,” he said.

“We have to understand that this is high-intensity level football, and in addition to that, there is heat and very little time to recover.

“We haven’t had competitive football in nine months, and we are suddenly thrown into high-intensity games which occur twice a week. It is not easy and we need to look at that,” he added.

Hearts will take on Liberty on Sunday in their next game of the competition in Dansoman.