Posted by The Communications Director of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Henry Asante Twum has rubbished reports that Assistant Coach of the Black Stars George Boateng will work as a pundit for beIN SPORTS at the 2022 World Cup.
On Thursday, beIN SPORTS announced that they’ve reached an agreement with George Boateng and a host of legends of the game which include the likes of Kaka, John Terry, Arsene Wenger, Marcel Desailly, Lothar Matthaus and so on to bring in-depth analysis of all 64 games to be played at the World Cup in Qatar.
Done Deal! 🤝
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) October 20, 2022
We've confirmed our broadcast squad for #Qatar2022 ⚽🇶🇦
More ⤵️#beINSquad
The news left a plethora of Ghanaians wondering how George Boateng will combine his punditry job and his role as Assistant Coach of the Black Stars, a role he left Aston Villa to focus on in August this year.
However, spokesperson of the Ghana FA, Henry Asante Twum has downplayed the reports, insisting that George Boateng will only work as Assistant Coach of the Black Stars during the World Cup.
“George Boateng will not be doing punditry during the World Cup, no it won’t happen,” said in an Henry Asante Twum in a conversation with Asempa FM.
“Secondly, George Boateng with BeIN sports didn’t sign contract yesterday, he signed a deal with the sports firm in 2014 during the Brazil World Cup when he was working in Malaysia.”
“BeIN Sports has huge market in the Asian sub-region so George Boateng being a Dutch ex-player and a former Middlesbrough player and Aston Villa, they[BeIN] wanted to tap into his expertise, so he started working with them in 2014 as a Pundit”
“Exactly ten days ago, he received a call from BeIN sports and they said, they know he is busy with the Black Stars and it will not be possible to do anything for them during the World Cup but provided he is available, will he be willing to do it? now George told them Ghana’s target is to stay in the tournament through out,” he added.
Boateng, together with Otto Addo (Head Coach), Mas-Ud Didi Dramani (Assistant Coach) and Chris Hughton (Technical Advisor) will lead Ghana at the World Cup which kicks off on Sunday, November 20.
Ghana have been pitted in Group H of the group stages alongside Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea.
The Black Stars will start their campaign against Portugal on Thursday, November 24, before playing Uruguay on Monday, November 28 and South Korea on Friday, December 2.