Ghana is three months from a fifth World Cup participation, and quite a bit is changing around the team.
In keeping with the tradition of beefing up the Black Stars technical staff, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) announced fresh additions to coach Otto Addo’s team in February.
Alain Ravera and Kim Lars Bjorkegren (current Black Queens head coach) were hired as assistants, while José Daniel Martínez Alfonso (scout/video analyst), Carlos Lozano Romero (physiotherapist), and Dwayne Peasah Paa Kwesi (performance coach) also joined.
Frenchman Alain Ravera and Black Queens coach Kim Lars Björkegren join Black Stars technical team as assistant coaches ahead of 2026 World Cup#JoySports pic.twitter.com/GFlVfKIsBL
— #JoySports (@JoySportsGH) February 6, 2026
Like every other Black Stars-related decision, the appointments divided opinion.
The announcement was first made on Joy FM by the Director of Communications at the GFA, Henry Asante Twum.
By the next Friday, the issue was still making the headlines. And then it died a natural death. Or so we thought.
A month later, the matter has resurfaced, and the issues remain the same: conflict of interests (mostly).
On Saturday, former Ghana Under-17 assistant coach Ignatius Osei-Fosu asked the GFA to reverse Björkegren’s appointment.
His reason was simple: “They have to change because during the World Cup, the Black Queens must be preparing,” Osei-Fosu said.
Reverse Kim Lars Bjorkegren’s Black Stars appointment to focus on preparing Black Queens for WAFCON – Osei Fosu to GFAhttps://t.co/OWAb8k2IRW#JoySports pic.twitter.com/FJSUfhfEWg
— #JoySports (@JoySportsGH) March 9, 2026
“I’m not calling for a change for the sake of it. They have to, unless they are throwing one of the tournaments under the bus. It’s fundamental because Ghana wants to qualify for the Women’s World Cup.”
Osei-Fosu’s experience as a coach and his current role as Sudan’s assistant coach add more weight to his opinion on the subject.
That is why on Monday morning, every major sports bulletin in both English and local language broadcasts carried the story (originally aired on Kumasi-based Luv FM) across the country.
Björkegren’s involvement complicates things. That much is obvious.
Those who argue that he should not take on additional responsibility are not wrong. The Black Queens coaching job, much like the Black Stars, is and has always been a full-time job. That should not change for anyone.
Any arrangement that limits Björkegren’s focus on the job would ordinarily be strongly opposed.
But that is not entirely the case with the current arrangement.
If anything at all, it is the Black Stars that would ‘suffer’.
Before the rescheduling, his contribution to the Black Stars for the March friendlies would have been limited due to its proximity to the WAFCON in March.
But CAF’s decision to postpone the tournament has reversed the situation.
The tournament will begin on July 25 and end on August 16, 2026. That means the tournament starts just six days after the World Cup final.
But there is no guarantee that Ghana will make the World Cup final. Heck, Ghana’s best outing at the World Cup was the quarter-final finish in 2010.
Even if the Black Stars make it that far and happen to play the last quarter-final fixture on July 11 in either Miami or Kansas City, that is still two weeks before the tournament.
For context, that is two days short of the team’s 14-day pre-tournament camp in Benslimane for the last WAFCON in Morocco.
If Ghana does not make it that far, Björkegren will have even more time to focus on the Black Queens.
Again, even if the GFA were to rescind the Swede’s appointment, he would practically be sitting in Ghana doing nothing. As we speak, there is no planned pre-tournament camp scheduled for the men’s World Cup.
Conversely, going to the World Cup allows him to see firsthand tactical trends and contexts that he could be beneficial to the Queens.
So, while the Black Queens’ job deserves the coach’s undivided attention, a one-time arrangement to expose him to the most sophisticated level without disturbing the Queens’ schedule should not be a problem.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Source: www.myjoyonline.com
