Ghana FA sticks with Otto Addo despite AFCON qualification setback

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has decided to keep coach Otto Addo, despite overseeing Ghana’s worst-ever qualification campaign for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Addo supervised six games in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers and did not win a single game, leaving the Black Stars missing out on AFCON for the first time in 20 years.

However, the GFA has no intention of parting ways with him, according to Executive Council member and Black Stars Management Committee Chairman Dr. Randy Abbey.

The GFA plans to change Otto Addo’s backroom staff, with the likely dismissal of assistant coaches Joseph Lauman, John Paintsil, and goalkeepers’ coach Fatau Dauda.

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“I think the GFA has taken the decision already,” Abbey confirmed on Original FM.

Despite the AFCON disaster, Addo revived Ghana’s 2026 World Cup hopes with back-to-back wins against Mali and the Central African Republic.

The GFA believes he can ensure qualification but needs a strong backroom staff to back him.

“The GFA is keeping Otto Addo. Immediately, it’s about the World Cup qualifiers that start in March, and to ensure that the poor trend of results that led to non-qualification for AFCON, we would be able to change course and put the Black Stars back on the winning path.”

Otto Addo was appointed in early 2024 after Ghana’s disappointing 2023 AFCON campaign in Ivory Coast, coming in for a second stint after a first stint that saw him qualify Ghana for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

His second stint, in comparison to the first, has been poor, but he will have the chance to continue his long-term contract, which includes an option to extend for an additional two years.