The Executive Council of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), led by President Kurt Okraku, has decided to retain Otto Addo as head coach of the Black Stars despite their failure to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The Black Stars endured a challenging AFCON qualifying campaign, losing three matches and drawing three, leaving them winless in six games. As a result, they finished at the bottom of Group F, significantly damaging their qualification hopes.
This marks the first time in 20 years that Ghana will miss the AFCON tournament, with their last absence dating back to 2004. After Ghana failed to qualify, an emotional Otto Addo fielded questions from the media, addressing calls for his resignation. He also clarified his coaching credentials and roles at Borussia Monchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund, and as a scout for the Black Stars during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
“Surely you don’t know me, you don’t know my life, what I’ve been doing and where I was, I was very down, people have been chasing me, whatever, you don’t know my life, but I’m nobody who can just wake up and resign.
“If I would have done this, I would never become a national player, I would never become. I would never become a player in the Bundesliga and I would never become a coach, you know I have a very, very different mindset than somebody who would resign, different mindset, totally, towards them, and I have to protect them, if I would sit here and maybe be sad, maybe when I go home, I’ll be sad, but for them, I have to protect them, so this is the first thing.”
