Sports News of Saturday, 15 September 2018
Source: Graphic.com.gh
2018-09-15
Karim Zito, Black Starlets head coach
Ghana Black Starlets head coach Abdul Karim Zito says the mode of qualification to the FIFA under-17 World Cup next year is very unfair.
Zito maintains the Confederation of African Football (CAF) opted for a qualifying format that emphasizes and sacrificed quality, as the current WAFU qualifying competition is not as effective as the format for the previous editions.
CAF decided in July 2017 that the format of the qualifying competition should be changed and split according to zones. At the end of the qualification phase, seven teams – including one from the WAFU competition — will join the hosts Tanzania for the continental competition.
“No coach that is participating in the tournament is happy with the mode of qualification for the World Cup, but in terms of development it has been challenging to the boys to express themselves in terms of talents and their abilities on the field,” Zito told Graphic Sports Online.
“Now, one of the best counties in terms of talents [Cote d’Ivoire] is out of this tournament and so will never be at the World Cup. CAF opted for quantity instead of quality. At the end of the day, either Nigeria or Ghana, whether we like it or not, will miss the African qualifiers for the World Cup.”