Kojo Addae-Mensah, the Chief Executive Officer of one of the leading financial institutions in Ghana, Databank Group, and one of the brightest minds in sports analytics, has called on the head coach of the Black Stars, Otto Addo, to step down from his role if he fails to reach the 2025 AFCON.
Otto Addo, who since taking over as head coach of the team on a full-time basis on March 15, 2024, after his previous stint in 2022 as a stop-gap coach, has in eight matches won twice, drawn three times, and lost three games.
Though level on points and joint-top with Comoros in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Group I of the CAF region after four games, it is a whole different scenario in the 2025 AFCON qualifies as the team lies third in Group F with two points.
The Africa Cup of Nations, the biggest continental football showpiece, is often considered by Ghanaians as the tournament the country must always qualify for and even win.
However, this appears unlikely to be happening, with Otto Addo risking becoming the first head coach since German coach Burkhard Ziese in 2003 to fail in qualifying Ghana for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Following the recent disappointments in the 2025 AFCON qualifying series, Kojo Addae-Mensah reckons the former Ghanaian international Otto Addo must be honest with himself and resign as head coach for failing to achieve less of his targets.
“I think that if he doesn’t qualify for the AFCON, he should step down because even though it is a three-year project and all that to build a team, if you don’t play competitive football, you don’t improve. You need competitive football to improve, but the less he could have done is to qualify us to AFCON,” he said to Nana Darkwa Gyasi in an interview on Max FM.
Despite the humbling 2-0 defeat to Sudan in the last match, Otto Addo still remains optimistic of his side’s chances of beating the odds and booking a spot at the AFCON set to be hosted by Morocco.
