The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has confirmed there was a ‘verbal confrontation’ between fan and coach Chris Hughton at the Black Stars hotel following Ghana’s shock loss to Cape Verde on Sunday evening.
According to GFA spokesperson Henry Asante Twum, the incident was handled internally and did not escalate beyond a verbal exchange.
Twum clarified that the fan did not physically assault the coach, contrary to initial reports. Instead, the fan attempted to approach Hughton but was intercepted by security personnel, who removed him from the area. “We’ve dealt with the issue internally,” Twum said to BBC Sport.
The GFA spokesperson also assured that the association is solidly behind coach Hughton and believes that the team can still win the two remaining matches to advance to the next round.
“We have had a meeting with the coach and gave him 100% assurance that we are solidly behind him,” he revealed.
“We think it is possible for the team to win the two remaining matches to make it to the next round.”
Twum acknowledged that emotions often run high after games, especially when teams perform below expectations. To prevent similar incidents from happening in the future, the GFA plans to implement measures to keep spectators at a safe distance from the coaching staff.
“Normally after games, tempers are high, emotions go up – we will try as much as possible to not allow this thing to repeat itself,” he said.
Ghana’s surprise defeat against Cape Verde has put pressure on the team to perform well in their upcoming match against Egypt, one of the most successful teams in African football history.
The Black Stars will need to improve their performance significantly if they hope to secure a positive result and remain in contention for the tournament title. If they lose to Egypt on Thursday night, they risk being eliminated from the competition.
By Enoch Fiifi Forson | Abidjan, Ivory Coast