The King Faisal bankroller shares his thoughts on the Black Stars quest to rule the continent in Cameroon next year
King Faisal Babes president Alhaji Karim Grunsah believes Ghana will need a "white coach" to win the Africa Cup of Nations title again.
The Black Stars are set to compete at the continental showpiece for the 23rd time in history when the best 24 nations in Africa convene in Cameroon early next year.
Ghana, currently coached by former national team star CK Akonnor, will be hoping to win the tournament for the fifth time.
“I’m a Ghanaian, I can’t support Burkina Faso or any other country than Ghana but this coach has nothing better to lead our team for the trophy," Grunsah, whose King Faisal Ghana Premier League side are led by Turkish coach Kasim Gokyildiz, told Kumasi FM.
"I believe we can win the trophy but not with this coach, Ghana needs a white coach because football is managed by a critical thinking person and I know you understand me well."
Ghana won the last of their four titles 39 years ago in Libya. Since then, the nation has endured a series of near misses, reaching the final on three occasions - Senegal 1992, Angola 2010 and Equatorial Guinea 2015.
"Over 30 years we’ve not won Afcon. I don’t want to be just another coach who comes in to manage Ghana and goes and then it’s the same story," Akonnor said in May last year, four months after he took over as Ghana boss from James Kwasi Appiah.
"I want us to work and make an impact, be relevant.”
Ghana, led by president Nana Akufo-Addo, has launched a national agenda to end their Afcon drought next year.
The continental title is one of three objectives handed to Akonnor, the second and third being qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and going on to reach the semi-finals of the competition.
“The target is to bring the cup home by winning the Afcon 2022. We must go a step further than our second-placed finishes in 1992, 2010 and 2015 and end the 40-year drought for a title,” Akufo-Addo said on Monday.
"We must also reach at least the semi-finals of the World Cup in Qatar. Our exploits in 2010, where we reached the quarter-finals in South Africa, tell us that once prepared, we have the quality and the talent to match any of the best teams in the world.
“The task might seem daunting, but it is exactly not insurmountable."
At Ghana's last Afcon campaign in 2019, they were eliminated at the Round of 16 stage.