The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has released a statement detailing the functions of a Technical Director following the confusion that heralded the naming of a Technical Advisor for the Black Stars.
Former Newcastle and Brighton manager, Chris Hughton was confirmed as the national team’s technical advisor ahead of the Stars’ World Cup Qualifier against Nigeria in March following days of speculation.
Borussia Dortmund assistant coach, Otto Addo was also named the head coach for the two-legged tie and will be assisted by George Boateng and Mas-Ud Didi Dramani.
Hughton’s appointment has, however, been questioned, given the presence of the Technical Director of the GFA, Bernhard Lippert.
Former Black Stars International, Augustine Arhinful, has already called on the GFA to clarify the roles of the newly constituted Black Stars technical committee.
“They have to explain to us so we will know what the situation is,” he said
“If you tell me the GFA have a Technical Director in Lippert and a Technical Advisor in Chris Hughton, and then a head coach and his assistants, then it should be made clear to us.”
It is a sentiment shared by many Ghanaians on social media who have questioned whether Hughton’s appointment might be redundant.
Apparently, in a bid to address the confusion, the GFA released a list of the roles of the Technical Director, “as stated by FIFA.”
“The Technical Director heads the Technical Directorate of the Football Association performs the following functions:
- He formulates guidelines, strategies and policies for the training and the technical development of coaches of Ghana football,
- He provides advice to the Executive Council on coaching and technical development matters in general
- He may be called to supervise national football team coaches if need be
- He is responsible for the strategy, development and technical direction of the Technical Directorate,
- He is responsible for the preparation and implementation of technical programmes at the grassroots, juvenile, and National Teams thereby preparing football coaches and footballers for the future
- He is required to build the capacity of the of Technical Directorate of the Association that will include but not limited to the following departments; Coach Education, Referee Education, Talent Identification, Performance Analysis, Technical Studies and Video Analysis, Health and Nutrition, Sports Psychology, Strength and Conditioning and Sports Medicine.