Ghana’s Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, has revealed the targets outlined in Chris Hughton’s contract as the new head coach of the Black Stars.
Chris Hughton bagged four points against Angola in back-to-back 2023 AFCON qualifiers, and his immediate task is to qualify Ghana to the AFCON scheduled for January in Cote D’Ivoire.
Speaking to Citi Sports at the 2023 Ramadan Cup launch, at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra, the Minister revealed that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) had set out objectives for the former Brighton & Hove Albion Gaffer, who was unveiled as Ghana’s coach last month in Kumasi.
According to Mustapha Ussif, the Ghana Football Association, under the leadership of Kurt Okraku, has tasked Hughton with leading the Black Stars to the next African Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
Additionally, Hughton has been mandated to identify talented players from the local leagues, qualify Ghana for the FIFA World Cup, and improve the country’s Coca-Cola FIFA World ranking.
Ghana dropped one place to 60th in the latest world rankings; in Africa, the Black Stars are currently 11th despite not losing their last two games in the 2023 Afcon qualifiers.
“The objectives are set by the FA for him to ensure that we qualify for AFCON and also to ensure that we identify local talents from our league.”
“To also ensure that we qualify for the World Cup and also to make sure that our ranking in the FIFA Ranking improves.”
“These are the objectives in the contract that he has signed”
Chris Hughton has been pictured at a number of Ghana Premier League venues this season, including the Accra Sports Stadium, the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium and the Theatre of Dreams in his quest to assemble the best local talents in the top flight.
Mustapha Ussif also called on Ghanaians to rally behind Hughton to achieve the set targets.
The Ghana Football Association unveiled Chris Hughton as Head Coach of the Black Stars on March 20 where he was handed a contract that runs till December 31, 2024, concurrently with his two assistants, Mas-ud Didi Dramani and George Boateng.
The unveiling ceremony took place at the SG Mall in Kumasi.