Avram Grant's agent slammed by GFA

Aug 28, 2015 16:03:29

The Ghana Football Association has taken a swipe at Avram Grant’s agent for downplaying the quality of the Ghana Premier League

The Ghana Football Association has finally issued an official reply to Saif Rubie, agent of Black Stars coach Avram Grant, for describing the Ghana Premier League as sub-standard.
Rubie, in an interview with the BBC this week, alluded to the fact that his client Grant refuses to stay in Ghana to monitor the league because the standards are very poor.
His remarks were on the back of agitations by some Ghanaians who felt Grant has reneged on his promise to stay in the country and visit various league centres.
But the Ghana FA is clearly unhappy with Rubie’s comments after describing him as ignorant in relation to the local league.
“We wish to state emphatically that Mr. Rubie’s interview with the BBC over the long-absence of the coach from the country is riddled with factual inaccuracies, distortions and it is downright misleading,” the Ghana FA said in a statement.
“In reality, the GPL and the lower tier leagues in Ghana are filled with hugely talented players and some have recently moved to play for top-flight sides in the top leagues of Europe.
“Just two seasons ago Baba Abdul-Rahman played for Asante Kotoko in the GPL and just recently he signed to play for English Premier League side Chelsea, one of the top teams in the world. There are many of such examples,” it added.
“While it is true that one of the challenges of the GPL is the exodus of players, the failure of our national team coaches in monitoring talents from the local leagues is even more corrosive. Players would be encouraged to stay longer to play in the country if our national team coaches pay more attention to our leagues. That is because they would know that their utmost desire of playing for the Ghana national team can also be achieved by playing in the country.”
The body also refuted claims by Rubie that Grant had organised coaching clinics for Ghanaian coaches.
“Mr Grant has made clear his intention of organising the clinics for Ghanaian coaches and has even held meetings with the League Managers Association (LMA) in England about sending resource persons for the clinic in Ghana but the course is yet to be held.
“This clearly shows that Mr Rubie is far remote from the issues at hand and we would appreciate it if he steers clear from issues he doesn’t understand or has knowledge of. Mr Rubie acted only as an agent when the coach was being recruited and now that Mr Grant is an employee of the GFA, we will deal directly with him if there are any issues. We believe we can amicably solve any differences if they arise.”
In the mean time, Grant has named a 24-man squad for the friendly match with Congo and Tuesday and the 2017 Afcon qualifier against Rwanda in Kigali next weekend.