Ghana Football Association(GFA) President, Kurt Okraku has responded to media reports that their appointment of Black Stars coach Chris Hughton was a government directive.
The Irish gaffer was appointed head coach after Ghana’s elimination from the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Hughton was a member of the team’s technical bench, serving as the technical advisor to coach Otto Addo.
Kurt was speaking in an exclusive interview with Juliet Bawuah on SuperSport.
“Chris Hughton is a coach contracted by GFA for our senior nationa team, the Black Stars. He wouldn’t be Ghana’s coach if we had no belief in him.
“So long as he is the coach, he has the support of the Executive Committee and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
“We have been very supportive of his works and will forever continue to give him all the support he needs to ensure we succeed together.
Kurt continued: “We trust in him and the rest of the backroom staff. We have to give them trust and time.
“The Executive Committee had trust in him. We had a clear plan for him and we executed the plan.”
Chris Hughton has played two competitive games against Angola, winning 1-0 in Kumasi and a 1-1 stalemate away in Luanda.
Kurt Okraku believes the two matches have aided Hughton and he now understands the set up better.
“Before we gave the job to Otto Addo, we knew he wouldn’t stay beyond December and we had a succession plan and his successor was Chris.
“It’s the reason we brought him closer. And that was for him to get to know the team and the players culture.
“It was a very clear strategy that we deployed and today Chris is in a better position to take over the team.
“Better than he would have been if we had handed him the responsibility earlier.”
Chris Hughton aims at qualifying Ghana to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote D’Ivoire.
