Ghana’s parliament probes Black Stars AFCON early exit

Accra, Ghana | Xinhua | Ghana’s legislative body on Friday set up a committee to investigate the exit of the Black Stars in the group stage of the ongoing African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon.

First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Joseph Osei-Wusu directed the committee to “investigate the cause of the poor performance of the Black Stars and report to the House.”

The committee, according to the official, has to submit its report to the legislative body by the end of February.

Ghana has made a total of 23 AFCON appearances since the inception of the tournament in 1957.

This year the Black Stars only managed to secure a point out of a possible nine after drawing 1-1 with Gabon and losing 1-0 and 3-2 to Morocco and Comoros respectively, which led to the early exit of the four-time African champions from the tournament, the worst performance in the history of the country.

The first time the Black Stars exited early from the AFCON group stage was in 1980. They went out with four points.

In 1984, 1998, and 2006 editions of the AFCON, the Black Stars exited with three points in all three tournaments.

The Ghanaian government has described the Black Stars showing as “abysmal performance” and recommended the dismissal of head coach Milovan Rajevac.

The Ghana Football Association parted ways with the Serbian coach and dissolved the Black Stars management committee on Wednesday.

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Xinhua