Concerns have been raised by former Sports Minister Elvis Afriyie Ankrah over Asamoah Gyan’s participation in the controversial Black Stars player boycott during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Given his captaincy at the time and his apparent political goals, Ankrah believes that Gyan may have acted out of self-interest.
Gyan’s selection to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) manifesto committee in advance of the 2024 elections has increased the level of attention surrounding this issue.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has accused Gyan of purposefully missing the penalty against Uruguay during the 2010 World Cup in order to harm Ghana’s chances because his party, the NPP, wasn’t in power at the time. Gyan’s political affiliation has sparked verbal attacks.
Ankrah, the former NDC minister of sports, has recently spoken out about the Brazil scandal of 2014, which seriously tarnished Ghana’s standing abroad.
Gyan was the captain who did little to stop the players from skipping practice and keeping the Brazilian government hostage, according to Ankrah.
In an interview with Akoma FM, Ankrah said, “I don’t know whether it was political, but Ghanaians can judge whether it was political that a professional player and his colleagues say they would not train unless they see physical cash. That one, anybody can judge for themselves whether it was political or not.”
He added, “They refused to train, and it affected them in the final match. Ghanaians should judge whether it was political or indiscipline. I don’t know.”
In 2014, Ghana had to ship more than $4.5 million to Brazil before the players consented to play Portugal in their last group match.
The Black Stars eventually lost against Portugal after drawing with Germany and losing to the United States of America in the previous group games.
Ankrah expressed disappointment at the team’s lost chance to create history, pointing to their excellent practice performances and memorable games, such the draw against Germany, which was approved by FIFA’s technical committee.
“If it’s not for the occurrences and they had remained focused, I believe that we could have made history,” Ankrah lamented. “We lost that opportunity; today, what’s happened to all of them?” he pondered.