Former
Former Deputy
Minister of Youth and Sports Honourable Joseph Yamin has expressed huge
disappointment is comments made by former Black Stars coach James Kwasi in his
book, which accused the former president of the republic, John Dramani Mahama
and his NDC government of sabotaging him during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Finals
staged in Brazil, where Ghana did not only fail to advance from the group
stage, but also left an indelible mark of public ridicule which despised the
state in the eyes of the world.
James Kwasi
Appiah, in his book titled ‘Leaders Don’t Have To Yell’, claimed that the
government of the day under president John Dramani Mahama wanted him sacked
before the mundial and refused to give him the needed support to help him
deliver to the expectations of Ghanaians. He further alleged, that the then
president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kwasi Nyantakyi told him that
the President, John Mahama has ordered him (Nyantakyi) to sack him as coach of
the Black Stars due to the nation’s poor show at the mundial.
Speaking to
FOX FM, Honourable Joseph Yamin, deputy minister of Youth and sports at the time,
has firmly debunked the claims of Kwasi Appiah, saying the government rather
offered the former Asante Kotoko star every support he needed to succeed,
giving evidences time and space cannot permit to be named here.
On the
contrary, Hon. Yamin has alleged, that Mr. Kwasi Nyantakyi’s FA rather proposed
to the government that Kwasi Appiah does not have the requisite ability to lead
Ghana to a successful world cup tournament and requested for him to be fired.
However, the government, specifically the sports ministry headed by Honourable
Elvis Afriyie Ankrah insisted that Kwasi Appiah be maintained having led the
team to qualify for the mundial.
“One of the
reasons why Kwasi [Appiah] went to the World Cup, if the government at that
time did not support Kwasi Appiah he wouldn’t have gone to the World Cup”,
Yamin insisted. “Proposals for Kwasi to be sacked before the World Cup started
before we qualified to the World Cup but Kwasi got the support of the
government of which I was part of that government (National Democratic Congress)’”,
he alleged.
Asked whether
it was the GFA led by Kwasi Nyantakyi that proposed for the sacking of Kwasi Appiah,
Yamin answered in stern affirmation. “Was there any other GFA? If there wasn’t
any other GFA apart from the one led by Nyantakyi then why ask again? There is
an FA and there is a government, the FA proposeing that Kwasi Appiah, in fact
there were rumours that the FA will remove him and bring in another person to
lead the Black Stars, but the government of the day, that time Elvis Afriyie
Ankrah as the Minister for Youth and Sports, me as the Deputy Minister for Youth
and Sports and government gave Kwasi Appiah all the support he needed to stay
on as the coach, especially after qualifying the team to the World Cup. So why
is it that at a launch of your Book you will want to paint a picture that it
was the government that didn’t want you and ordered for you to be sacked? It’s
a pity and it’s a very unfortunate a statement coming from Kwasi Appiah”, he
stressed.
