Black Stars players refusing to play in unplanned friendly against Kotoko

A host of players in the Black Stars have kicked against plans to play in a friendly against Asante Kotoko on Friday.

The Normalization Committee of the Ghana FA had announced the friendly match against the Kumasi-based club as a replacement for the botched 2019 AFCON qualifier against Sierra Leone.

Ghana was originally billed to play the Lone Stars in a double-header qualifier on Thursday and Sunday.

But Sierra Leone’s inability to meet a FIFA condition over governmental interference in the administration of football in their country has seen both games cancelled by CAF with Ghana being declared winners.

The Normalization Committee then as a replacement has lined up a friendly against Asante Kotoko on Friday as a means of giving the Black Stars some serious activity in the absence of the competitive fixtures.

Some players in the squad, however, do not want to play in the friendly against Kotoko since that wasn’t the reason behind their release from their respective clubs.

They argue that injuries sustained in this unplanned friendly could cause them serious problems since it is not internationally sanctioned by FIFA.

Clubs per FIFA rules are compelled to release invited players for competitive national team activities or during FIFA accredited friendly match days.

This understanding, however, does not cover friendly matches in the form of the one organized against Asante Kotoko.

Oti Akenteng who has been deployed by the Normalization Committee to deal with issues in camp in having a tough time convincing the players to play the match against Kotoko.

Some are already demanding flight tickets to return them to their clubs as soon as possible since news broke of the cancellation of the match against Sierra Leone. Read Full Story