"CAF Right to Ban Ghana Because We Used Overaged Players"- JE Sarpong

Veteran Ghanaian coach J.E. Sarpong has said that the decision of the Confederation of African Football to ban the Black Starlets from participating in the upcoming championship is in the right diretion because some of the players used by Ghana were actually more than 17 years.

The Ghana FA has received a letter from CAF to ban Ghana from all age competitions following a protest from the Cameroon Football Association against two starlets players for allegedly failing the MRI test.

J.E. Sarpong has stated that, the decision is not far fetched because it has been a norm in Ghana, picking players who are above the required age to participate in the age group tournaments.

The former Aduana and Liberty Professionals coach, indicated that, the handlers of the Starlets and authorities at the Ghana FA have resorted to selecting players who are more than the required age for fear of being lambasted by the media if they fail to perform in tournaments.

The experienced trainer emphasized that, some of the players invited by Paa Kwesi Fabin in the last qualifier against Cameroon were above 17 years, adding that management failed to do due diligence on the ages of the players, noting that as a country we should rather concentrate on developing talents instead of always wishing to win tournaments.

‘’We cannot get a seventeen year old in Ghana here at this level but because of the winning mentality and the coaches fear of being lambasted, they always pick players who haven’t attain that age.’’ J.E. Sarpong told Kumasi-based Hello FM.

‘’It is only in Ghana that I have heard football age and biological age. They at times give 17 years to someone who is actually 45 years. It has been going on for a longer time and none of the authorities have taken it upon himself to bring it to end.’’

‘’They forgot that we may be caught one day. This is not the first time. There has been times other countries have protested against us on this same issue. We could have learnt a lesson from that. During the previous qualifiers we encountered the same problem, yet they failed to learn from this MRI Scan problem.’’

‘’ It is only at the basic school that we can get an U-17 year old player. Whenever I hear that Michael Essien is 35 years old and Sulley Muntari is 28 years, I just laugh it off. I can prove to you with a research conducted by a doctor in Cape Coast, that when people taught our players were 17 years, most of them were 35 years.’’

‘’ Yes, some of the players we used against Cameroon in that match were above 17 years, that is the truth.’’

‘’ The management did not do due diligence on the ages of the boys. But I believe that we are developing football, the fact that we won world cup some years back doesn’t mean we can win always. We should rather think of developing the players and wait for the appropriate time.’’

The Starlets qualified 6-3 on aggregate over the Young Lions to the tournament that would be stage in Niger in 2015.

The Ghana FA has since appealed against that decision by CAF.

Source: Ghanasportsonline.com