[ 2014-12-29 ]

Ghana coach Avram Grant may need greater protection than previous Black Stars coaches
Recently, Ghanaians were informed by the Ghana
Football Association that Avram Grant (name at
birth: Avraham Granat), the largely successful
soccer coach who spent the last few years managing
notable English clubs, has been appointed manager
of Ghana’s Black Stars.

My article is not about Avram Grant’s
suitability or otherwise for the high-pressure
job; instead, this piece is about the
government’s responsibility for Avram Grant’s
safety, especially when the team travels to
predominantly Muslim nation-states in Africa and
elsewhere for both official and unofficial soccer
matches.

In today’s politically turbulent world, the
Israeli’s safety should be a paramount concern
for the Government of Ghana, Ghana’s Ministry of
Youth and Sports, and the Ghana Football
Association.

With the proliferation of narcissistic and
chthonic terror groups like Boko Haram, ISIS, and
al-Qaeda, no one can be certain when Avram Grant
could become the target of a looney acolyte of a
looney lunkhead – or even a terrorist group –
who might want to advance the dastardly tenets of
Jihadism and, in return, receive conjugal benefits
from 72 virgins in eternal bliss, or paradise.

While Avram Grant is not an Israeli politician,
and therefore does not help formulate Israel’s
domestic or foreign policy initiatives, some
uneducated, unhinged, reprobate jihadists may be
unaware of this fact, and hence see Avram Grant as
a target of their disdain, simply because the new
Black Stars’ manager is an Israeli.

Avram Grant deserves maximum protection from our
security forces, especially when the team is on
assignment overseas, and I pray that our
politicians will make sure that adequate security
measures are put in place at all times for the
Black Stars’ manager’s safety.

This task is quite herculean, which is why it
deserves maximum attention from officials in the
John Mahama-superintended administration.

Many contemporary jihadists only observe the law
of the jungle; in other words, they are not
subject to the rule of law or probative facts that
underpin guilt or innocence. As such, leaving
Avram Grant’s safety to pure providence would be
tantamount to smoking a cigarette next to a leaky
tank of gasoline.

Avram Grant deserves the job, if, indeed, the
Ghana Football Association believes that it made
an impartial selection of the former from the list
of managers who applied for the job.

But with Grant’s selection comes the need for
additional security because of the man’s
consanguineous ties to the State of Israel.

The Government of Ghana should take this
responsibility very seriously because Grant’s
appointment could improve diplomatic relations
between Ghana and Israel (even though Grant’s
appointment is not a political one).

Additionally, Grant’s appointment should help
the African nation assess its capacity to provide
security for a man who, simply by virtue of where
he was born, could become a target of anti-Semites
both inside and outside of the former British
colony.

Officials in the John Mahama-led administration
have been advised accordingly

Source - Ghanasoccer

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