Plavi Is Goner - FA Source`

The Ghana Football Association is set to announce the sack of Black Stars coach, Goran �Plavi� Stevanovic, after consultations with the Ministry of Youth and Sports. In the Serbian�s stead, former France skipper, Marcel Desailly, has emerged as a front runner to take charge of the national team after members of the GFA executive committee found him to have met the credentials of what they expect of their next employee. Apart from bearing the qualification of a trained coach, Desailly�s profile as an accomplished former footballer and an imposing figure in world football have been helped by his Ghanaian nationality as the GFA makes a dramatic switch in favour of an indigene. The former Olympique Marseille, AC Milan and Chelsea star won the World Cup with France in 1998, the European Championship in 2000 and the Champions League with both Marseille and Milan. He was one of the candidates for the job before supposed agents of Plavi emerged with an aggressive PR campaign in the media that forced Desailly to withdraw from the contest. Plavi�s sack will, however, cost Ghana �135,000 � being the Serbian�s three months� salary � as compensation for the contract abrogation. GRAPHIC SPORTS investigations have revealed that the GFA took the decision to sack Plavi at its meeting of February 22 after meeting Plavi for the first time since Ghana�s Nations Cup campaign in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea which yielded fourth place. GFA sources say the coach�s demeanour and disrespectful posturing at the meeting �had made it difficult for us to continue working with him� for the remaining 12 months on his two-year contract. At the subsequent news conference, GFA president, Kwesi Nyantakyi, declared that the fate of the coach�s relationship with Ghana would be announced within two weeks after consultations with other stakeholders. Plavi then consigned his fate into the hands of the GFA, saying whether he would stay or leave �is in the hands of the FA�. Plavi has come under heavy criticism for Ghana�s performance at the Nations Cup where his team lost 1-0 to eventual winners Zambia in the semi-finals. Prior to the Nations Cup, he had presided over one of the best period of Ghana football, his team having qualified for the tournament without conceding a goal. His only loss before the Nations Cup was a 1-0 defeat at the hands of five-time world champions, Brazil, in September 2011 when the Black Stars played nearly 60 minutes with 10 men. When the GRAPHIC SPORTS contacted Desailly yesterday on the subject, he declined to comment saying, �I have absolutely no comment�.