Audio Attachment:Listen to Atik Mohammed |
A Policy Analyst of the People's National Convention (PNC), Atik Mohammed, has said the senior national team, the Black Stars, was even lucky to have reached the semis due to their poor performance exhibited in this year�s AFCON.
�They (Black Stars) did not play any impressive game since the commencement of the AFCON. All their wins were by luck. Technically, our team was bankrupt when we played Congo DR. Kwesi Appiah sometimes run out of ideas and that affects the team,� he said.
�He was captured on camera sitting idle without any ideas whiles the match was on-going. He (Kwesi Appiah) shouts unnecessarily when it�s not needed,� he added.
Speaking on PEACE FM�s �kokrokoo� programme Thursday morning, a day after Ghana�s defeat, Atik believes the team need to scout for competent players who are well determined to exhibit brilliant performances for the country since the current crop of players are performing poorly.
�The teams� performance on the field of play was not serious, our midfield was loose and the coach did nothing about that, we were tactically bankrupt... from the beginning, the team did not do anything good. All our wins were luck. We had three penalties to reach the semi-finals; this shows how bad our team is,� he said.
The outspoken PNC policy analyst also attributed the Stars poor semi-finals performance to the coach for some tactical changes he made in the team at the dying minutes of the game despite Tunisia referee Slim Jdidi�s biased judgment for the Stars.
�The referee stole for Ghana, it was really sad, he is corrupt and a crook. You don�t need to work with FIFA to know the referee stole for Ghana. He disallowed a perfect goal and a penalty for the Burkina Bays. Our penalty wasn�t even a (clear) penalty. It was the referee plus Ghana against Burkina Faso,� he stressed.
�I would have been the most disappointed person if Ghana had won the match,� he stated.
Atik Mohamed also raised issues concerning the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation�s (GNPC�s) sponsoring of the Black Stars since it�s a state owned institution.
�GNPC is a state institution�how can a state institution carry huge sums of money to the Black Stars all in the name of sponsorship?� he asked.
Ban
Meanwhile, Tunisian referee Slim Jdidi has been banned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after his controversial performance in Wednesday's AFCON semi-final between Burkina Faso and Ghana.
"CAF was not happy with the standard of refereeing in the match," general secretary Hicham El Amrani told a media briefing on Thursday.
"We know they can make mistakes but we expected a better level of refereeing. They are graded on each performance and based on his marks the referee from Tunisia is now suspended for a period of time still to be determined."
Among the contentious issues during Wednesday's match in Nelspruit was the red card given to Burkina Faso forward Jonathan Pitroipa that could mean he will miss Sunday's final against Nigeria.
Pitroipa received his second booking of the game, for simulation, in extra time after going down in the penalty area.
The organising committee will decide on Friday whether the player can take part in the final.
Burkina Faso have launched an appeal but El Amrani said the only way Pitroipa could avoid an automatic one-match ban will be if Jdidi acknowledges he made a mistake in his referee's report.
Source: King Edward Ambrose Addo/ Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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