Vice President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), George Afriyie has confessed that the delay in commencement of the Ghana Premier League affected reigning champions, Ashantigold’s performance in their CAF Champions’ League tie against MO Bejaia a fortnight ago.
The Miners toiled and laboured all game and are in North Africa for the second leg this weekend with a slender 1-0 lead on the back of defender Joshua Tijani’s 60th minute strike at the Len Clay Stadium in Obuasi.
According to Mr. Afriyie who is also Chairman of the Black Stars Management Committee, Ashgold coach, Bashiru Hayford would have been well placed to know the strengths and weaknesses of his side were the league to be in session and would have given the Obuasi side a better chance of beating their opponents by a wider margin to make the reverse fixture a mere formality.
The slim victory however places the Ghanaian champions in a precarious position to scrape through to the next stage of the competition in their chase of a place in the money zone of Africa’s biggest and most lucrative club tournament.
But the GFA Executive Committee Member is brimming with confidence that Ashgold would sail through despite the slim scoreline in the first leg, saying they played very well in Obuasi but only failed to convert the numerous chances created into goals.
“They played very well on the afternoon but the delay in the league due to legal battles really affected their preparation. If the league were to be session and Ashgold active, the players would jell together and play as a team,” the Ghana FA Vice President told journalists after launching of the 2016 Ghana Premier League on February 17 in Accra.
He also promised that GFA would collaborate with Ashgold to offer the needed support to the playing body to ensured they qualify to the next stage of the competition to enable Ghana to regain its lost slots.
Credit: Christopher Roland Agbettor
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