Milovan Rajevac Sacked After A Disastrous AFCON Campaign

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has sacked Black Stars head coach, Milovan Rajevac, after supervising Ghana’s woeful performance in the ongoing AFCON in Cameroon.

The decision was taken by the Ghana FA on Saturday, January 22, 2022 in line with calls that made it “clear to the GFA that the people of Ghana have lost confidence in the capacity of the current technical team of the Black Stars to deliver success”.

The decision to relieve the Serbian of his duties comes less than 12 hours after the Sports Ministry directed GFA to reconstitute the Management Committee of the Ghana Black Stars during an emergency meeting between the Ministry and the Association on Friday.

At the meeting, they reviewed the Stars’ performance at the AFCON 2021 and discussed preparations for the 2022 World Cup playoffs.

The Serbian coach supervised one of Ghana’s worst performances at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

Four-time Africa Cup of Nations winners, Ghana, failed to win at least one match in a single AFCON edition, in its 23rd appearance in the competition. The Black Stars failed to progress to the knock-out stages for the first time since 2006.

The Black Stars only managed to pick a point in the competition in Group C with Morocco, Gabon and Comoros. Ghana lost to Morocco and debutants Comoros in the group stages to exit the competition.

The Ghana FA and the technical team led by Coach Milovan Rajevac have come under intense pressure after the exit with calls from the fans for the team to be dissolved and the coach sacked.

Meeting between the Sports ministry and the GFA

After a stakeholders meeting held between the Sports Ministry and the Ghana Football Association on Friday, the Ghana FA was directed to terminate the appointment of Milovan Rajevac with immediate effect.

Sources at the Sports Ministry indicate that the Ghana FA agreed in principle to sack the 68-year-old. The Sports Ministry disclosed it wanted the Serbian trainer gone or else it will stop paying his salaries

The Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, ordered the FA to reconstitute the Black Stars Management Committee. He said the country has lost confidence in the team and questioned the capacity of the coach.

“The Ministry made it clear to the GFA that the people of Ghana have lost confidence in the capacity of the current technical team of the Black Stars to deliver success. The Ministry, therefore, asked the GFA to review the work and capacity of the Black Stars technical team led by the head coach Milovan Rajevac”.

Mustapha Ussif

The Minister said in a statement that ” following the emergency meeting, the Ministry, in accordance with his mandate asked the Ghana Football Association to reconstitute the Black Stars Management Committee”.

The GFA, at the meeting, was hesitant about axing the Serbian particularly because of the severance fee the country is liable to pay – an estimated minimum of $270,000 which could rise to $370,000 if a sign-on fee is included.

Before the meeting, the Sports Ministry expressed its disappointment in the senior national soccer team for its abysmal performance at the ongoing AFCON tournament in Cameroon.

Meanwhile, the GFA is yet to issue an official statement to confirm the decision as well as the way forward for the team.

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