A former captain of the Black Stars, Stephen Leroy Appiah, has stressed the need for ex-footballers to be given some roles in the footballing space to administer and help Ghana to restore its glory days in the sport.
According to the respected Black Stars legend, football should be run by footballers to enable them to add their in-depth knowledge of the game because their scope of understanding is unmeasurable.
Speaking on Kumasi-based Sompa FM, the former Fenerbahçe, Udinese, Bologna and Juventus midfielder stated that administering football to success has nothing to do with speaking big jargons.
“Sometimes we the legends, the former players don’t get the chance. I have observed that football is run by footballers, it is not about the grammar that you will speak,” he observed.
Stephen Appiah was however hopeful that “one day one of us[ex-players] will one day have the chance to come and lead Ghana football, we all want to help,” he said.
He added that although some past footballers including himself are very humble and ready to help in every discourse, they do not subscribe to the idea of forcing or associating themselves against the will of people.
Stephen Appiah, regarded by many as the most-loved captain to lead the Black Stars made his senior national team debut in 2003 when Ghana played Benin in a four nations tournament in Cotonou.
He later went ahead to captain the Black Stars and led the team to secure a historic first-time qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and subsequently the 2010 edition in South Africa.
On August 22, 2010, following Ghana’s World Cup record quarter-final finish, the former Accra Hearts of Oak player announced his retirement from the national team at the age of 29.
At the end of his international career, he featured 67 times and scored 15 goals for Ghana.
In May 2017, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) named Stephen Appiah as the Team Manager for the Black Star which he served as a technical member of the stars.
