I rejected goal-scoring 'juju' offer - Asamoah Gyan

Asamoah Gyan, Skipper of Ghana’s senior national football team, Black Stars has revealed for the first time that he once rejected a 'juju' offer meant to help him score goals.

“I said I’m a natural goal scorer,” he told Starr Chat host Bola Ray in an exclusive interview on Starr 103.5FM Wednesday February 11, 2015.

According to him, the juju offer was made to him “when I was at the colts level. He was like: ‘Take this and you're going to score more.’”

Responding to a question about how he felt upon seeing a talisman around the waist of a Guinean player in Ghana’s quarter-final game in the recently-ended Africa Cup of Nations, the Al Ain Striker said: “Everybody was surprised. I was like: ‘Is it a belt or what?’"

He said he had heard of the use of such charms but he had never seen them used in football. “I haven’t seen something like that in football…."

It has been constantly rumoured that African players invest in black magic to enhance their career. But the 30-year-old father of three boys and a girl told Bola Ray that: "There are people who believe in those things, for me I don’t believe in it but it exists.”

According to an article written by Vishaal Loganathan on inbedwithmaradona.com, African footballers have been known to go to great lengths in getting juju to work for them as they believe charms and spells help them become victorious and at times even work against their opponents.

During the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations opener between Ghana and Guinea, many Ghana fans, according to the website, were seen with juju pots to ward away all devils.

According to the article, “there were even fans with guinea fowls among the crowd.” Also in the 2002 game between Mali and Cameroon, Cameroon officials, including the head coach placed a magic charm on the pitch before the game kicked-off.

Goran Stevanovic, a former Ghana coach, attributed his team’s failure to win the Afcon 2012 to players who try to outdo each other using black power or Juju. In his report after the tournament in which the Black Stars finished fourth, Stevanovic said, “We all need to help in changing some players’ mentality about using black power to destroy themselves and also make sure we install discipline and respect for each other.”

The article noted that: “Ghana is not the only country that seems to be suffering from this mentality. In fact, much of the African football-loving population seem to sway to the notion that juju plays football. German film-maker, Oliver Becker who made the film Kick the Lion—Football and Magic in Africa depicting the use of juju in football says, “Traditional medicine and religion play an important role in most African societies. Soccer is by far the number one sport in Africa, so it's logical that traditional beliefs would also play an important role in soccer.””