Sports

VIDEO: Chaos at funeral of late Coach Herbert Addo

The solemn and somber atmosphere at the funeral grounds of former head coach of Ghana Black Stars, Herbert Addo turned sour when family members of both Mr. Addo and his recently married spouse tore at each other over the destination of his burial.

Siblings and members of the external family of Herbert Addo wanted his remains to be buried near Dodowa in the Greater Accra region.

Family members of wife of the former Black Stars’ coach, Mrs. Gifty Acquah Addo however wanted Aburi, a suburb in the Eastern Region to be the site of her husband’s burial.

This resulted in a heated verbal exchange between both parties with a sibling of Mr. Addo creating a blockade with his car to prevent the hearse transporting the latter’s remains to Aburi.

Police personnel called in by Mrs. Acquah Addo came to intervene to prevent the situation from escalating. They mobilised some men at the funeral grounds to lift the car in order to make way for the hearse to leave for the burial grounds at Aburi.

He was finally buried at Aburi in the Eastern Region under heavy security. Siblings of Herbert Addo were disallowed entry to the burial grounds.

Former Black Stars head coach Herbert Addo died after battling illness for about 4months.

Mr. Addo, who had coached for four decades starting from his first job with Armed Forces Team S.S. 74 in the Old Ghana Division One league, passed on 24th March, 2017.

He managed the Black Meteors (U23) (1981-82) and Black Satellites (U20) (1983-84) before graduating to the Black Stars (1983-86/87) and capping it off by winning the SWAG coach of the year award (1987).

The experienced coach also had a short stint with the Ghana Local Black Stars leading them in a CHAN tournament in 2010.

Herbert Addo won the Ghana Premier League on five occasions with four different clubs – and he remains the only coach to have achieved that feat in the history of the local game.

He won the league title with Asante Kotoko (1988), Goldfields S.C now Ashgold (1994/95 and 1995/96), Accra Hearts of Oak (2002), and Aduana Stars (2010).

The 66-year-old had stints with clubs like Accra Great Olympics (twice), Sekondi Hasaacas, Kumasi Cornerstone (where he won the WAFU Champions Cup in 1987), Goldfields (now Ashanti Gold), Asante Kotoko, Accra Hearts of Oak, Ghapoha, Okwahu United, Samartex FC, Gamba All Blacks, Pure Joy, Wassaman, and Inter Allies on his CV as clubs he has coached domestically.

Herbert Addo is survived by a wife and five children.