Sports
Unraveling riddles behind Laryea, FA turbulence
Laryea Kingston and FA President, Kurt Okraku
Events in three major sports including football and boxing have kept Ghanaian sports faithful spellbound, following attentively their outcomes which would determine Ghana’s participation or otherwise in major upcoming events.
The first is the ongoing West Africa Football Union (WAFU) Zone B U-17 championship at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium which Ghana’s Black Starlets were kicked out at the semi-final stage by a determined Burkina Faso side.
Secondly, the Road to Paris 2024 Boxing Championship in Bangkok, Thailand is one boxing fans are following to monitor the progress of the Black Bombers.
They need to secure some of the 51 allotted places for the Paris 2024 Olympics expected to take place in a few months’ time.
Then comes the Ghana Premier League (GPL) on its last stretch. For the second consecutive time, major traditional and city rivals, Accra Hearts of Oak and Accra Great Olympics are heavily involved in an interesting battle to avoid relegation.
That carries enough weight to dominate discussions on the various media platforms for the entire week.
However, a sudden Laryea Kingston outburst after the Black Starlets loss to Burkina Faso turned the scripts and swept the Hearts-Oly relegation discussion under the carpet.
Laryea, no doubt has emerged as one of the respected and confident young coaches and expected to take Ghana football by storm. His exploits with the Right to Dream Academy and the Starlets in a previous adventure made him an obvious candidate for the job.
The target was to land in the finals to guarantee qualification to the CAF U-17 Championship and subsequently qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
But the Burkina Faso hurdle proved too costly; leaving behind a dejected, disappointed, sad and disheartened young talents who obviously looked up to their coach for comfort and some consolation.
On the field of play after the match, they enjoyed that from their coach who inspired them in his play-days with Great Olympics, Hearts of Oak and the national teams.
They were, however, left shocked to the bone by the announcement of the coach’s resignation and the manner it was carried out.
The matter became murkier by an intolerant and emotional acceptance statement from the FA, raising issues over how Laryea handled his resignation when the team had a third place playoff in a few days’ time.
The FA played smart to ‘weather the storm’ by announcing assistants to take over and visited the team ahead of the Tuesday (May 28) bronze medal playoff against Nigeria.
Without knowing the exact issues that got Laryea infuriated, he has been ‘hanged’ already on reasons bordering on his temperament. Yes, I am tempted to side with the judges presiding on the matter handled in a court of public opinion.
No matter what may have angered him, he could have proved his critics wrong by going about his resignation in a decent manner rather than abandoning the team and his post-match duties including the meeting with the team’s management committee which he reports directly to.
Clearly, his action will deny him a platform through which his grievances can reach the FA for solutions.
That, however, does not also exonerate the FA because clearly, it goofed with the tone of its statement and their action creating a platform for a ‘buga-buga’ analysis of the matter.
By Andrew Nortey
Sports
Black Queens get new Head Coach
Swedish Football Coach, Kim Lars Björkegren, has been appointed new Head Coach of the Senior National Female team, the Black Queens.
He replaces erstwhile Coach, Nora Hauptle, whose contract with the GFA expired at the end of December 2024.
Kim Lars Björkegren started out as a footballer and played for his community club in Ljungsbro, later featuring for Allsvenska Åtvidabergs FF (Swedish First Division club at the time).
An injury he sustained at the age of 22 put an end to his football career and he chose to pursue a career in Coaching.
In a career covering 18 years, Kim, now a UEFA License A Coach, has gained significant experience and success coaching in Sweden and other countries. Kim’s successes include his winning the Cyprus top Women’s league with Apollon Ladies as well as the Damallsvenskan (Swedish Women’s top league) with Linkopings FC. In the 2020-2021 season, he was adjudged the Coach of the season in Cyprus.
Kim holds the joint record with the renowned Sven Goran Eriksson as being the second Swedish manager to win two domestic titles in two different countries.
Kim Björkegren worked with the Finland Women’s National Team as a Scout and Analyst.
He has also coached Beijing BG Phoenix in the Chinese Super League (placing third in both the Chinese Women’s FA Cup and Super Cup in 2018) and has worked as Technical Director of Manila Digger FC of the Philippines. Kim also coached a number of male teams at various levels of the Swedish Football League system.
Most recently, Kim has been manager of Racing Louisville in the National Women’s Soccer League of the United States of America [USA].
Kim’s philosophy of football is to play possessive attacking, purposeful and entertaining football, utilizing the skills of his players in the best possible way, thus making him a flexible and adaptable Coach.
He places a lot of emphasis on discipline, team organization, hard work, teamwork, dynamism and flexibility. This philosophy merges well with Ghana’s football philosophy.
With his coaching experience in Women’s Football, coupled with a background in Education and Sports Psychology, Kim Björkegren is viewed by the GFA as the ideal choice to take over the coaching reins of the Black Queens and lead them to greater heights.
GFA COMMUNICATIONS
Sports
New Technical team announced for Black Queens
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) is pleased to announce the reconstitution of the Technical team of the senior national female team, the Black Queens.
The new Head Coach of the team is Swede Kim Lars Bjorkegren as the new Head Coach. Coach Bjorkegren, a highly experienced and qualified coach, will be assisted by Coach Charles Sampson as the first Assistant Coach, while Anita Wiredu takes up the role of the second Assistant Coach.
Nassamu Yakubu has been appointed as the Goalkeepers Coach, with Enoch Jordan Daitey serving as the Athletic Coach.
The medical unit of the team will be led by Kate Boachie-Agyemang, who will be assisted by Team Nurse Asinawu Abubakari. Margaret Foli has been appointed as the team’s Physiotherapist.
Drucilia Arthur will serve as the Welfare Manager, while Patience Nana A. Quarshie and Adwoa Bayor have been appointed as Equipment Officers.
Ronnie Bergdahl, an experienced video analyst, will provide technical support to the team as the Video Analyst.
The GFA is confident that Coach Bjorkegren and his technical team will bring the necessary expertise and experience to lead the Black Queens to success in upcoming international competitions.
GFA COMMUNICATIONS
