AFCON 2027Q: ‘No player deliberately turned down Ghana’ – Kurt defends injury withdrawals

Ghana Football Association President Kurt Okraku says no Ghanaian player has deliberately withdrawn from the Black Stars ahead of their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.

The Black Stars have been hit by a series of player absences ahead of their opening qualifier against Côte d’Ivoire and The Gambia.

The includes Mohammed Kudus, Antoine Semenyo, Thomas Partey, Jordan Ayew, Baba Rahman and Alidu Seidu.

The withdrawals have led to questions over whether some players may have opted against representing Ghana.

However, Kurt dismissed such suggestions, insisting the absences are genuine.

“Quite a number of our players are injured. No Ghanaian player intentionally did not want to play for Ghana since I started serving as the FA President,” he told Asempa FM.

“A lot of these players play a lot of games or go through serious training regimes and most often get medical issues.

“A lot [of them] force themselves to play at club level because they are employed full-time. So they give off their utmost opportunity to compete and to be selected.

“All over the world, you have situations of at least a minimum of five players pulling out to take care of their medical needs.”

The Black Stars have responded to the latest absences with a number of late call-ups as Carlos Queiroz prepares his squad for the opening assignment.

Brandon Thomas-Asante, Felix Afena-Gyan and Jonas Adjetey are among the players added to the squad.

Rockson Yeboah and Rahim Ibrahim have also received their first call-ups to the senior national team.

Ghana will open their AFCON 2027 qualifying campaign against Côte d’Ivoire in Bouaké on September 24 before hosting Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium five days later.

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