Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kurt Okraku has dismissed suggestions that any Ghanaian player has deliberately withdrawn from the Black Stars ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
The Black Stars have been hit by a series of player absences ahead of their opening qualifiers against Côte d’Ivoire and The Gambia, raising questions about whether some players may have opted not to represent the national team.
Among those unavailable are Mohammed Kudus, Antoine Semenyo, Thomas Partey, Jordan Ayew, Baba Rahman and Alidu Seidu.
However, Okraku insists the withdrawals are genuine and largely related to injuries and players’ medical needs.
“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.
He explained that the demands placed on players at club level can contribute to injuries and other medical concerns.
“A lot of these players play a lot of games or go through serious training regimes and most often get medical issues,” Okraku said.
According to the GFA president, some players may push themselves to play for their clubs because football is their full-time profession, making medical management particularly important when they are called up for international duty.
“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,” he added.
Okraku also noted that player withdrawals due to medical concerns are common in international football.
“All over the world, you have situations of at least a minimum of five players pulling out to take care of their medical needs,” he said.
The Black Stars have responded to the latest absences with a number of late call-ups as head coach Carlos Queiroz prepares his squad for the opening assignment.
Brandon Thomas-Asante, Felix Afena-Gyan and Jonas Adjetey have been added to the squad, while Rockson Yeboah and Rahim Ibrahim have received their first call-ups to the senior national team.
Ghana will begin their AFCON 2027 qualifying campaign against Côte d’Ivoire in Bouaké on September 24 before hosting The Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium five days later.
