Ghana complaint may lead to FIFA sanctions for Beitar

Beitar Jerusalem faces sanctions from FIFA after Ghana coach Claude Le Roy complained to world soccer's governing body that the team failed to release midfielder Derek Boateng for Tuesday night's friendly international against Nigeria.

The Ghana boss also filed a complaint against Spartak Moscow after the Russian team failed to release striker Quincy Owusu-Abeyie.

"We sent him an invitation to play and he said yes, but the club did not release him," Le Roy told Eurosport.

"It's the same for Derek Boateng at Beitar Jerusalem. The club said he was injured, but the regulations say he must be released and be checked by our doctors. We have sent a fax to FIFA and to the clubs to complain."

Beitar said in response to the charges that it had sent a fax to the Ghana Football Association, informing it that Boateng was injured and would be unable to attend.

"I don't know if Beitar sent a fax; I certainly didn't see one," assistant Ghana coach Silas Tetteh told Haaretz. "But I hope he truly was injured, because if he was fit, we will have to consider what action we will take on the matter."

Although Beitar claims that Boateng was injured, the midfielder trained in full last week and showed no signs of injury.

A senior Beitar executive said yesterday that Boateng had asked the club to report that he was suffering from a muscle sprain, as he did not want to play for Ghana because of internal team politics.

"There is nothing I can say about it," Boateng told Haaretz. "I was told that I was injured, so I am injured."

"I had an ankle problem, but I'm okay now," he added.

Le Roy is not the only one complaining about Tuesday's match - which ended 4-1 to Ghana.

His opposite number, Nigeria boss Augustine Eguavoen, is set to clash with Chelsea after accusing the English Premier League champion of lying about the fitness of John Obi Mikel.