Appiah Denies Petitioning President

The captain of the Black Stars has disassociated himself with the story making rounds that he has petitioned President J.A. Kufuor as a matter of urgency to intervene and convene a crisis meeting among some stakeholders of the game to discuss ways of arresting dwindling fortunes of the various national teams, especially the Black Stars.

Appiah said in exclusive interveiw this evening that the news came to him as a surprise and that he has never put this view accross to either the Ghana Football Association of the President.

He said if there are problems at all with the national team he has to take it through the proper channel as the captain of the team and therefore the Ghana Football Association is the first place tocontact if there are problems with the team.He said "i enjoy a very good relationship with everybody at the FA and i will not hesitate to contact them if there are problems with the team and i think needs urgent attention".I have discussed some problems with the FA in the past and they are working on it ,why should i jump the channel of communication in an organisation and go to the president for redress?" Appiah asked.

Appiah added that press statement should not be taken seriously as some of the players mentioned in the squad are not even playing competitive football.He said i am very much informed with the progress and performance of Ghanaian players worldwide.Some players mentioned on the press statement like Constant Mantey and others are not playing competitive football whlist players playing competitive football like Dereck Boateng, Micheal Essien,Razak Ibrahim, Kofi Amponsah ,John Mensah and others have been excluded in the squad."I will not have excluded these players if i were to call for such a meeting plus there are some good players playing in Ghana too who i will consider if i was the one who called for that meeting." Appiah added.

He said it is the dream of every Ghanaian to see the Black Stars back to good form and that he and his colleagues based home and abroad are in constant touch with the GFA to see that dream, come true.