Marcel Desailly walks into political minefield
Desailly walks into political minefield
Posted: 2010-09-21 10:36
Former France captain Marcel Desailly is discovering the steep political landscape of Ghana football after his bid for the Ghana coaching job triggered a massive debate.
Desailly's salary demands, first published by local newspaper Africa Sports on Monday is threatening to derail any deal and the 1998 World Cup winner could be caught in what has been a long standing power play between the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ghana Football Association.
Desailly is looking to dismantle the long standing technical structure of the team and come along with two assistant coaches. In the past Ghana has reserved the assistant coach slot for Ghanaians with former Black Stars captain Kwasi Appiah occupying the position now while former national goalkeeper Edward Ansah is the goalkeeper's coach. In that sense Desially's proposal will alienate many within the Ghana football setting.
But the demand for additional hands is not entirely new given that Claude Le Roy arrived in Ghana with current Angola coach Herve Rene his physical trainer at a cost of 10,000 dollars a month to the Ghana Football Association.
His salary demands have also caused a ripple. Some reports quote his salary demands at 120,000 dollars a month which will be two times the agreement the GFA came to with Milovan Rajevac before he walked. The Graphic Sports newspaper though quotes his initial demand at $70,000.
Desaily was approached by the Ghana Football Association before they appointed Milovan Rajevac two years ago but his case this time is being heavily championed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
That fact has also not gone down well in certain circles with accusations that he is being imposed on the GFA.
Africa Sports editor Kwabena Yeboah says Desailly must tailor his demands to suit Ghana's unique situation. "The reason Marcel Desailly is a choice to be Ghana's coach is because we consider him one of our own and are therefore prepared to hand over the Black Stars over to him with no coaching experience. But the idea of bringing an expatriate assistant defeats the purpose of that. It defeats our belief in handing the national team to our own."
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