By Ameenu Shardow
Veteran football administrator J.Y Appiah says the perception that coaches are corrupt is real and that it is high time it is stopped.
This perception has been in existence ‘since the days of Adam’ but there have been no conclusive evidence to back this claim.
Some coaches are said to demand monies from players or their associates before being featured in games especially with the junior national teams.
Midfielder Ishmael Yartey was the last to allege such a criminal act by revealing he was dropped by Sellas Tetteh from the 2009 U-20 World Cup winning squad because he failed to pay his way through.
He was however unable to substantiate this claim – leaving the issue to die in the process without it getting to its logical conclusion.
But Appiah who was once the boss of the welfare body of Ghanaian clubs, GHALCA, insists this practice indeed still exists and that steps must be taken to extinguish it from the local game.
“It is my believe that this perception of coaches taking monies from players is very true,†he told Kumasi-based Angel FM.
“Even with our local teams, during recruitment, you realize that some players who don’t deserve to be recruited eventually find their way into the team to the detriment of the good ones.
“Therefore the club chairman usually has to be on the field to supervise the exercise otherwise the right players will not be recruited.
“Officials must be hard on the coaches and make them aware that what is passed is passed and that they are being given a clean slate to work with integrity.
“It is this act which breeds indiscipline in teams and that the coaches must be told to stop and rather concentrate on recruiting good players.
“Because at the end of the day, if you get good players and you win, you will eventually get the money you are looking for.â€