Russia Friendlies Cancelled

Regular readers of this post must have noted the lack of interest that the author has shown in the two friendlies with Russian club teams originally scheduled for early May. Upon first hearing of the friendlies, the cynic in me said “There is no way that the GFA and two Russian club teams will be able to organize friendlies in that time period.” It turns out I was right.

Yesterday, the GFA officially cancelled the two Russian friendlies. No reason was given for the cancellation, but rumors flew that again the European stars of the Black Stars were not given enough warning or support to participate. Like last week’s Stuttgart friendly, we would have fielded a lineup of hopefuls and never-will-bes, a thought which must not have appealed greatly to the Russians.

All of this underscores a deeper administrative problem that we have seen for much of this year. The GFA appears to act hastily to set up opportunities and issue press releases, but lacks the follow through to get player commitments, to organize the event or to manage protocol. None of this bodes well for CAN 2008, where the GFA must be a driving force in improving the quality of play. GFA-For Shame!