Ghanaian sports personality and former coach of the Black Stars James Kwesi Appiah has shared his thoughts on the 2014 World Cup saga detailing what led to his dismissal after the tournament.
You will recall that Kwesi Appiah was shown the door after his team’s abysmal performance at the 2014 world cup in Brazil.
Kwesi Appiah revealed that he believes his dismissal as head coach of the senior National team was politically motivated.
This was gathered in a report by Celebritiesbuzz.com.gh where it captured through his book ‘Leaders don’t have to Yell’ noting that he was used as a scapegoat by the Mahama government when things did not go well at the competition for the nation with all the controversies that surrounded it.
He revealed that Kwesi Nyantakyi the then GFA boss named John Mahama as the brain behind his exit.
“Kwasi Nyantakyi called me to his office that day and informed me that he had been asked by the President of the nation to relieve me of my duties. When decisions about the national team staff became that heavily-politicized, it was very clear to me that the political machine was flexing its muscles to make me a scapegoat”.
“The Minister for Youth and Sports who should bear the ultimate responsibility for the money issue that was at the heart of the Brazil problem was reassigned to another job in the President’s office but I was rather fired”.
“Considering the order for my firing was to have come from the president, that made it a fight I was not interested in”.
“My lawyer and secondary school classmate Godfred Graham whom I conferred with regarding the termination of my appointment, was convinced that I had a strong case for further legal action. Even though I agreed with Graham’s position, I chose to close that chapter to move”.
