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Kwesi Appiah’s absence is part of Kotoko’s poor form in GPL – Owusu Bempah
Ace football analyst and commentator, Osei Owusu Bempah, has called out former Ghana coach, Kwesi Appiah for accepting an appointment to head the current Interim Management Team of Asante Kotoko.
Speaking in an encounter with Luv fm in Kumasi, Mr. Owusu Bempah said Kotoko’s current poor run in the Ghana premier league could be attributed to a skeletal management team most of whom have other personal commitments other than the club.
Following the dissolution of the club’s 12-member Board of Directors, led by Kwame Kyei and later Nana Yaw Amponsah in September 2023, the Asantehene named a four-member IMC, headed by Kwesi Appiah, to run the club.
Other members of the IMT include Nana Apinkra Akwasi Awua who is the Kontomponiaferehene and a chartered accountant, Dr Prosper Narteh Ogum, named as head coach and Emmanuel Newton Dasoberi who serves as the administrative manager.
But days after his appointment to lead the Kotoko management, Kwesi Appiah was handed a three-year deal to coach the Sudanese national football team.
With Kotoko presently experiencing a rough and miserable season, having won just one match out of nine played in the second round of the league, pressure is mounting on the players, technical team and management to find ways of halting the poor run.
Addressing the issue on Kumasi based Luv FM’s Kickoff show, Osei Owusu Bempah noted the struggles of Kotoko go beyond the playing body and technical body, but the absence of a management team whose leader is currently spending more time outside the country on other official duties.
“Can you imagine a team like Kotoko currently being run by only four people, one of who is running the club in absentia, Kwesi Appiah I mean?” he quizzed.
“He’s not in Ghana, he lives in Saudi Arabia or somewhere, and then you think that a team like Kotoko, not a colts club should be run this way. Even if you’re running a cement shop you cannot run it remotely, you need to be there. You think as a Technical Director of a club you can’t give technical advice when you are watching games on TV, no he stressed.’’
The renowned football administrator says Kwesi Appiah should have turned down the offer from Otumfuo based on his other obligations.
‘’I’m surprised Kwesi still holds on to the position, I thought that when Nana approached Kwesi about this position and knowing what he had taken up elsewhere he would have honestly suggested and pleaded with Nana to consider other people for the position.
“And I don’t think if they needed a former Kotoko player with a technical background to occupy that position they wouldn’t have gotten anybody. And then you take such a position working with just three other people including a coach who does day-to-day technical work, and then you’re living outside and you think things can work, no it won’t,” he emphasized.
