<<Print>>

Ghana Football Association President Kwesi Nyantakyi says the Black Stars of Ghana really felt bad after feeling rejected by the Kumasi fans during the Ghana-Uganda AFCON qualifier last September, insisting that the players have taken immeasurable lessons from the backlash and are ready to reform. Appearing before the World Cup Commission of Inquiry chaired by Justice Senyo Dzamefe, the GFA boss said he could sense humiliation on the faces of the stars and the feeling of rejection in front of their own fans in Kumasi, undoubteldy considered as the Soccer City of Ghana and a slaughter house for opponents due to the vociferous fans. The Baba Yara stadium was near empty hours before the game and the few that trooped into the stadium later on, turned against the Black Stars amidst jeers and boos towards the Black Stars in the game that saw Ghana draw 1-1 with the cranes following an abysmal display. �I must tell you that the players really felt it. They really, really felt it�, Nyantakyi said Wednesday. True to the biblical saying that a prophet has no honour in his hometown, the Black Stars enjoyed a different reception in neighbouring Togo where they had camped to play their next qualifying game against the Togolese Hawks. GFA president said the players were overwhelmed by the affection shown by the opposing fans. Much to the surprise of the players �they [Togolese fans] were running after the players and hailing them�, he said despite the Togolese losing the game. The GFA President believes that the hooting and rejection in Kumasi �was overdone�. A member of the Commission Moses Foah-Amoaning disagreed. He believed the players needed to feel the full expression of Ghana�s disappointment following a disastrous World Cup campaign in Brazil last June.