Kuffour Blast Koufie & Abedi

Black Stars captain at the Mali 2002 CAF Cup of Nations, Emmanuel Osei Kuffour has lashed out at FA chairman, Ben Koufie, and FA management member Abedi Ayew Pele, for playing various roles, which affected the entire playing body during the just ended African Cup of Nations in Mali.

In what appears to be his resolve to voice out whatever he had swallowed during the team’s participation and risk any future invitation to join the Black Stars, Emmanuel Kuffour accused Ben Koufie of openly criticising Coach Osam Duodo in front of the players on many occasions. The FA chairman also yelled at the players unnecessarily thus preventing them from voicing out their opinions.

For example, he accused Michael Essien of Bastia fame who missed Ghana’s game against Nigeria of feigning injury. Amankwah Mireku who wept because he was finding difficulty in eating the food was also accused of doing so to embarrass the nation.

Emmanuel Osei Kuffour told Ghana Television in an interview that FA member, Abedi Ayew Pele informed the junior players in the Black Stars that the G FA will do away with the senior member after the tournament. These remarks created disunity in the team since the junior players did not show any respect in camp.

The FA, according to the captain, also allegedly threatened to drop him (Kuffour), Ishmael Addo, Charles Taylor and Jacob Nettey from the Black Stars for demanding $2,000 that was promised them as appearance fee before their international friendly against the Basque country. He expressed surprise that most of the decisions, which were the prerogative of the coach were taken by the two FA officials. The captain, who is currently with a Chinese club, summed up his accusations with a call for a foreign coach to handle the Black Stars.