The complaint by English premiership Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez that he has not been given enough control over football matters and that he has to answer to his chief executive, has sent interesting ripples in football circles in my part of the world notably Ghana.

At club level in Ghana where in many instances there are powerful one- man ownerships and chief executives, you have an unwritten code that team selection must bear the tacit approval of the powers that be. In the national teams, the interference is done in a subtle way through a so-called management committee and managers/coaches have frowned on this practice but to no avail. The simple rule here is that he who pays the piper calls the tune.

One thought this was a third world problem. It is therefore a pleasant surprise to some of us to hear this is happening in one of the best clubs in England, arguably the most enlightened football country in the world. The suspicion is that the millions of cash being put into English football by foreign billionaires could soon turn football clubs into factories where the owners would definitely like to control affairs in full.

Benitez has confirmed my worst fears. He says the owners feel his decisions need to be subject to the chief executive but as a professional team manager (we call them coaches in Africa), Benitez maintains that he is subject to results and to Liverpool fans who are the best judges he would ever have. Poor Benitez .I hope such an embarrassment does not

happen to my favourite manager Alexander “The Great” of Manchester United who rightly believes that rival teams can pump in all the money they can but one thing they cannot buy is the class of Manchester United.

I saw on TV a sign board at Old Trafford that described the city of Manchester as the home of European trophies. There is the likelihood of the city getting another tag of Europe’s richest football city if Manchester City Football Club are able to sign on former world player of the year Brazilian star Kaka from A.C.Milan, with that multi million dollar offer. Football is a team sport and the purists are not too happy with this trend of wide salary disparities among players. Those billionaires who want to change the face of football should come to Ghana and learn about single spine salary structure.

Anyway if this Kaka deal goes through, it would definitely enhance the image of the City of Manchester as the haven of super star footballers which could be a potential tourist attraction.

Talking about image building, takes me to Ghana’s Under 20 football team coach Sellas Tetteh who guided the team affectionately called The Black Satellites to a pulsating 1-1 draw with Cameroun in one of the opening matches of the 2009 Africa Youth tournament in the Rwandan City of Kigali on Sunday.

Cameroon unsettled the Satellites with an early goal in the very first minute but led by Dede Ayew, son of Ghanaian football legend Abedi Ayew Pele, Ghana pulled even just before the recess through Dede Ayew’s powerful header. It was a picturesque header similar to the one Abedi Pele scored against Nigeria in the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal. The initiator of the goal was Ransford Osei, who appeared to be taking a leaf from Cristiano Ronaldo’s book of tricks as he mesmerized his opponent on the left flank and his tailor measured inswinger met the itching head of skipper Dede Ayew who made no mistake about it.

On the whole, it was a match of contracting styles as the well built Cameroonian players tried on several occasions to outmuscle their not so endowed opponents who created many scoring opportunities but fumbled when it mattered most. Cameroon impressed the thick crowd with their physique and the World Health Organisation must be happy that the former ill- fed third world countries are now capable of producing such healthy looking well built citizens at the age of 20.

Rwanda must also get the kudos for putting the ravages of war behind them and putting up an excellent organisation. Their football team also put up an excellent performance by beating Mali 2-1 in the opening game. Let us hope that the brilliant performance of all the players will continue throughout the tournament and some of them would graduate to their senior teams and even earn selection for World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.