Doya

The story that just won’t end had just gotten weirder. Apparently, due to all of the furor, the Ghana Football Association has banned head technician Ratomir Dujkovic, alternatively referred to in the press as “Doya” or “the Grandmaster,” from public dialogue.

This is perhaps unsurprising given the bizarre nature of certain of his comments, for example that his contract as head technician was “only to qualify Ghana for the World Cup and not win the African Cup of Nations.” And, given that this gag order has not been publicly disclosed by the GFA, it could also be that Doya is being gagged by his own counselors, or that this gag order is yet another gambit in an unending struggle between the Grandmaster and the GFA.

Media darling Doya has ever been the belle of the ball since arriving in Accra from Rwanda, a steal by the Stars given minnows Rwanda’s ouster of Ghana in the 2004 CAN (apparently Dujkovic was hired by Rwanda for CAN performance). And bashing the GFA has been a hobby across the nation for as long as playing kick the can around the street. It is easy then to be sympathetic to the Grandmaster and to feel that Ghana derogate the performance that Doya has already given to get them to the World Cup.

One must ask, though, whether this is all getting to be a little too much of a distraction. With a squad that daily has to face the theatrics of Michael Essien, Sammy Kuffour, Laryea Kingston and Sulley Ali Muntari, does the team need additional distraction from their staid head technician?