Kurt Okraku blames Black Maidens age-cheating ban on lack of attentiveness by clubs

Ghana Football Association (GFA) president Kurt Okraku has explained why his administration cannot be blamed for the unfortunate news of a two-year ban on Ghana's female U-17 side the Black Maidens over age cheating.

CAF suspended Ghana from two editions of the U17 Women's World Cup African qualifications in 2022 after Morocco submitted an appeal alleging age cheating.

Morocco had complained to CAF that a number of players were beyond the age of 17 and hence forbidden to play in the first leg of the World Cup qualifier in May, which the Black Maidens won 2-0.

"The truth of the matter is that the Football Association doesn't own players. The players are owed by clubs. The clubs are responsible for the registration of their players.

"What the Football Association does is to just rely on players that have been registered by the clubs to represent Ghana and therefore when you have such a challenge, it is very difficult to control," he told Supersports.

He however explained that the GFA were taking steps to avoid a repetition of the incident.

"But having said that I think education is key and beyond that happening we have taken turns to educate club owners to educate the players themselves and all the key participants in the field of sports to be extra vigilant and to be attentive to details when they are submitted for the registration of players at the club level. And to ensure that we have at the national level the right levels of data to rely on," he added.