Sports News of Saturday, 2 May 2020

Source: footballmadeinghana.com

Kwesi Nyantakyi killed my coaching dream- Joe Debrah alleges

Former GFA President, Kwesi Nyantakyi Former GFA President, Kwesi Nyantakyi

Former Asante Kotoko striker Joe Debrah has accused the former Ghana FA president Kwesi Nyantakyi for killing his dream to become a football coach after hanging his boots.

Joe Debrah popularly known as ‘Afriki Joe’ in his playing days, cemented a legendary status at Kotoko and also represented Ghana’s senior national team, the Black Stars in the early 90’s.

He is currently based in Germany but not involved in football after retirement. Debrah has claimed he harbored the dream of pursuing a coaching career but his attempts to actualize it were frustrated by the former GFA boss.

According to ‘Afriki Joe’, Nyantakyi despite encouraging him initially refused his efforts to get an endorsement letter from the GFA, and that led him to eventually forget about coaching entirely.

He shared his story in an interview with Kumasi based Kessben FM.
“In the beginning I had wanted to be a coach so I could help the next generation of footballers, but I later lost interest in coaching because of what some officials were doing” he said.

“I had a conversation with Kwesi Nyantakyi in 2006 about my coaching ambition, and later engaged some officials (of the DFB) here. They requested that I go for a letter of recommendation from the Ghana FA. So I spoke to him (Kwesi Nyantakyi) about it and he agreed to help.

“But subsequently there was too much back and forth and at times if you call him, he tells you he is busy, so these frustrations made me lose hope.

“So I gave up on it”, he concluded.