Opoku Nti blames CK Gyamfi as he opens up on 1992 Black Stars captaincy row

Former Asante Kotoko and Ghana striker, Opoku Nti has disclosed that the manner in which former teammate and skipper, Kwasi Appiah was stripped of the captaincy in 1992 was not the best.

According to the former Asante Kotoko CEO, it was the beginning of the many troubles the team faced as the FA could not point to any tangible reason for their actions.

Speaking to Dan Kwaku Yeboah TV in an interview, Nti who was named the African Player of the Year in 1993 by the African Sports Writers Association said, “It is easier to strip off the captaincy from a Kwesi Appiah than to say the player does not speak French but we played against French-speaking countries during the qualifiers.

"It is also prudent to speak the truth because you may not know the spirit one carries. There are some people who prefer to remain mute even when you offend them but there will be consequences ahead. To me I felt the reason why Kwesi Appiah was stripped of the captaincy was not the best and that was where the chaos began in the national team”, he said.

Speaking on what fuelled the whole decision by the then Technical Director of the Black Stars, the late CK Gyamfi, 62-year-old Nti said he confronted him to know the reason behind the decision.

“I confronted the late CK Gyamfi, who was the Technical Director of the Black Stars and I think he did not play a role well for the team. I once captained the team in 1983, 1987, and 1988 after I had served as the assistant to Isaac Paha. Captaincy was mostly handed over to the longest-serving player in the team, we did not vote but the administration decides who captains the team based on discipline”, he added.

Popularly nicknamed “Zico”, Nti featured in Ghana's 1982 African cup winning side and was subsequently named Africa's best player a year later by the African Sportswriters Association.

Opoku Nti also played for Servette in Switzerland and Aarau and Baden in Sweden.



LNS/KPE