Kickoff (Cape Town)
13 October 2008
Bashir Hayford has been dropped from the Kumasi Asante Kotoko group travelling to Sudan for a Confederations Cup match this weekend as a disciplinary measure after he went AWOL following the draw against Etoile du Sahel two weeks ago.
His assistant Johnson Smith will now take charge of a game that Kotoko must win to stand any chance of going through to the finals of Confederations Cup.
Kotoko management member Jerry Asare told KickOffGhana.com the measure is punishment for the coach's decision to desert post after the draw against Etoile that badly dented Kotoko's qualifying hopes.
Hayford left Kumasi after the draw for fear of his safety after Kotoko fans took on anyone in sight after the game and only returned last Wednesday missing a number of training sessions in the process.
But Jerry Asare insist he should he should have communicated with management before. "He just left without telling us anything," he told KickOffGhana.com.
"His assistant Smith took charge of the sessions and we feel it is only right that he takes the team to Sudan."
There has been tensions between the coach and the club's management for sometime now and the latest case is likely to heighten it even further.
Asare has already queried Hayford to explain his actions.
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