The National Sports Authority has provided a sharp-tongued response to the criticism it has faced following Ghana’s 0-1 defeat to Angola in the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The response came through the Deputy Director General of the National Sports Authority, Bawa Majeed, who believes that the public is unfairly targeting the NSA.
Speaking in an Asempa FM interview, Bawa Majeed debunked the assertions that the state of the pitch at the Baba Yara contributed to Ghana’s defeat.
Bawa Majeed argued that the Angolans, who won the game, played on the same pitch as Ghana and that any argument about the pitch is flawed.
Bawa Majeed stated that Black Stars coach Otto Addo should be held liable for the poor performance of the team, as his tactical calls cost Ghana three points against the Angolans.
“Are they suggesting that the Angolans were playing in the sky? They are all footballers,” Bawa told Asempa FM.
“Those they assembled to play against the Black Stars are professionals. We assembled our professionals. They all played on the same pitch. So CAF has inspected the pitch and approved it for the game.
“Let’s just look at what happened. We might not be coaches, but we follow and understand football. We all suspected and wanted, even the fans themselves were agitating for change in the 60th minute.”
Interestingly, it was not only Otto Addo who complained about the pitch; Angola coach Pedro Goncalves also made similar statements.
He noted, “We always tried to play football, but the pitch was difficult,” Goncalves said. “A country like Ghana deserves a better stadium, a better pitch for football. They have such talented players.”
Otto Addo, in his post-match presser, stated that while he will not blame the pitch for the defeat, he believes that Ghana’s performance would have been better if the country had a good pitch.
“It was unlucky for Mumin, but we made some errors even before that situation. But the pitch was not good, and we can’t overlook that,” he said.
EK
