Head coach of the Black Stars of Ghana, Charles Akonnor has questioned CAF’s decision to allow continental matches to take place in countries that have been red-flagged as hotspots for COVID-19.
The Black Stars of Ghana play South Africa in their second group game of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers on Monday, but the team was without key players due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
The team did not have England-based quintet, Daniel Amartey (Leicester City), Jeffrey Schlupp (Leicester City), Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace), Andrew Yiadom (Reading FC) and Baba Abdul Rahman (Reading FC) following the decision of Premier League clubs not to allow their players travel to COVID-19 red-listed countries.
Addressing the media ahead of Ghana’s game against South Africa, Akonnor questioned the Confederation of African Football on how it is handling incidents like this.
“The whole issue has been a problem, not only for me but any other coach will be worried. Today you come in, and you have a plan, but before you know it, someone has caught COVID or cannot travel because of COVID restrictions”. He said.
He went on to suggest if games could be played at a different location to avoid situations where key players miss games for their countries.
“I don’t know if CAF is handling these things very well. One may ask if we cannot bring our players here, can we not play the game somewhere else? There are so many questions to answer, and it does not make us feel comfortable, and it makes it so difficult. We are already under severe pressure and this adds up to it”. Akonnor stated.
The game is scheduled for 16:00GMT kick-off at the FNB Stadium on Monday, September 6, 2021.