Asamoah Gyan makes new revelations about his dismissal as Black Stars captain, refuses to blame Kwasi Appiah

Former Black Stars skipper, Asamoah Gyan, has made fresh and interesting revelations about the decision by then Black Stars coach, Kwasi Appiah, to strip him of the Black Stars captaincy ahead of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

Asamoah Gyan told Atinka FM in an interview that Kwasi Appiah was not the brain behind his dismissal as Ghana captain and that he was only used to convey the news to him.

Asamoah Gyan said that he is aware of the people who schemed to oust him from the role as Ghana captain but would not want to make it public.

He, however, hinted that it could be a decision of the Normalization Committee, which was overseeing Ghana football at the time.

Asamoah Gyan claims that Kwasi Appiah still regrets the decision to have been the one who communicated the decision to him and that he (Asamoah Gyan) holds no grudge against Kwasi Appiah or the people who orchestrated it.

“The explanation wasn’t from the coach. I don’t want to go into details but it didn’t come from the coach. It was the period of Normalization Committee so I know it wasn’t coming from him. Kwasi Appiah will insist that it was his decision but I know it wasn’t his decision and he regrets doing it,” Gyan said.

Asamoah Gyan also disclosed details of the conversation that ensued between him and Kwasi Appiah over the same issue.

According to Gyan, Kwasi Appiah struggled to convince him of the duties of the new role he was assigning him.

Following Kwasi Appiah’s struggles, Gyan said he offered to retire from the team.

“I told him I did not understand the meaning of the role ‘General Captain’. I asked what it was about and he outlined my duties which were to support him and support the players. I then reminded him that it is the same role as a captain so what did he want with the ‘general’ tag?

“I made the job simple for him by asking if I was being stripped of the captaincy or if I wasn’t part of his plans. His explanation wasn’t going well so I made it simple for him by offering to retire from the team. I did not want my presence to create any form of tension in the camp so I offered to retire. I had a change of mind after speaking to the president. After speaking to the president, I went there wholeheartedly with no negative mindset”, he said.

Barely a month before the 2019 AFCON, Kwasi Appiah rocked his own boat by naming Andre Dede Ayew as the captain of the Black Stars, as a replacement for Asamoah Gyan, who was still in the team.

Asamoah Gyan, who was compensated with the General Captain position, felt disrespected and retired from the team, a decision the legendary striker rescinded upon the intervention of President Akufo-Addo.

EK/AE