SoccerExpress - The Ghana Football
Association (GFA) will sanction Black Stars coach Burkhard Ziese who has
come under fire for Ghana's failure to play the third-placed match in the
just-ended four-nation invitational tournament in Nigeria if the
Association finds him culpable.
Ghana failed to play against Iran in the high profile tournament, which
involved Nigeria and Cameroun, and according to reports Ziese refused to
allow his boys to play the game when he realised the pitch was soggy.
Burkhard has come under fire since the abortive match and according to an
FA source Black Stars Management Board Chairman, Kojo Quarshie has
furnished the Association with the report on the tournament, which is
currently being studied.
"According to the FIFA rules it is only the match commissioner and
the referee who can determine whether the condition of the pitch is
inappropriate for football and not the coach of one club," the FA
official stated.
The source said the matter has so embarrassed the FA that if it is
convinced that Burkhard was responsible for the failure to play the match
he would be severely reprimanded and ordered to write a letter of apology
to the Nigerian Football Association (NFA).
The public's patience for Burkhard has waned thin over the past weeks
following his inability to pick a standing national team and his
continuous reference to players invited to camp as a national select side
is being seen as a façade to hide his inability to put together a strong
representative side of both local and foreign-based players.
Asked if the NFA had sent a report to the GFA on the Stars episode, the FA
source replied in the negative, but stated that it was imperative that the
Association quickly investigate the matter and send a formal apology to
the NFA to avert strained relations between the two bodies.
According to the FA official the Association was very much aware of the
possible outbursts of Burkhard hence its initial decision to impose a
6-month probation clause in his contract, but pressure from the media and
other stakeholders ensured that the clause was expunged and the danger is
that if Ghana fails to qualify for CAN 2004 it would still be saddled with
Ziese even though he has failed his first major test.
Ghana has two important international games coming up on June 15 and 22
against Liberia and Uganda in an Olympic and Nations Cup qualifier
respectively.
So far it is unclear how many of the 45 foreign-based stars Burkhard
listed in his inaugural press conference have responded to the national
call. The FA has remained mute about the issue and Burkhard who was
scheduled to hold a press conference last Wednesday to answer such
questions denied any knowledge of such a media forum.
