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Soccer News of Monday, 22 October 2012

Source: mtnfootball.com

Appiah fires discipline warning, accepts Ayew apology

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah has accepted the apology by midfielder Andre Ayew but has warned his players that he will not tolerate any acts indiscipline in his team.

This means the Marseille midfielder has escaped sanctions for his reaction when he was substituted in their match against Malawi last week.

Ayew was issued with an ultimatum to apologise to his team-mates and technical team for his actions which has been condemned in many quarters as disrespectful. According to local media reports, Ayew directed some unpleasant words and gestures at the technical bench when he was taken off during the game.

He was given the one-week ultimatum to apologise to the Black Stars Technical Team, playing body for the action which drew the ire of the coach.

He beat the coach’s deadline with a statement apologizing to the Black Stars and the technical team for his actions.

Coach Appiah has accepted the apology by has cautioned his players that disruptive behavior by any player in the Black Stars squad will not be accepted. “I have received the letter of apology sent by Black Stars midfielder Andre Ayew,” the Black Stars coach said in a terse statement.

“I have accepted Andre Ayew’s apology in good faith.

“I wish to remind all players of the Black Stars that any act of indiscipline will not be tolerated as we focus on preparing for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.”

The Black Stars manager responded to questions from certain quarters questioning who ordered Ayew to issue the apology insisting.

He revealed that they attempted to solve the issue internally but his quest to yielded no results which prompted the seven-day ultimatum.

“I wish to state clearly that I requested Andre Ayew to apologise to the technical team and his team-mates over his reaction when he was substituted during the match against Malawi,” Appiah said in his statement.

“We tried to resolve the matter internally after the game at a meeting but it yielded no results which resulted in my ultimatum.”