20100706
AFRICANEWS

After an abysmal performance of all the six African countries but one at the 2010 World Cup, African football legend George Weah has mooted the idea of creating the enabling environment for local coaches to handle African teams. He said African gaffers know the players better than Europeans who come in late.

The 1995 world best player said the teams’ poor showing in South Africa can be attributed to national authorities’ short-sightedness, ignorance and selfishness.

"A lot of them don't have knowledge of the game, they don't have passion for it," Weah told reporters at a FIFA event, according to Reuters. "African authorities don't believe in those people who work for them."

"Most of the coaches that brought a team, they've met the team three weeks, two months before. That's not enough to get to know the players.

"It is about time we invested in our own coaches who'll live with the players ... not just paying coaches to come and make money, and two or three weeks after the competition, go back," the former Chelsea ace said.

The former Liberian international said: "In Africa, players sit in economy class while officials go in business. That is wrong, that is bad for the game. They're going to play, they need to relax, not the officials."

Out of the six African countries at the 2010 World Cup only Ghana went far to the quarter-final. The others were eliminated at the group stages including host South Africa.