[ 2014-06-27 ]

Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari kicked out of Ghana's World Cup squad before Portugal game
Midfield duo suspended indefinitely following
claims of verbal and physical assault on coach
Kwesi Appiah and a Ghana FA committee member
Sulley Muntari and Kevin-Prince Boateng have been
kicked out of the Ghana squad
Going home: Sulley Muntari and Kevin-Prince
Boateng have been kicked out of the Ghana squad
Photo: GETTY IMAGES; AP
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By Telegraph Sport1:00PM BST 26 Jun 2014 Comments5
Comments
Ghana went into their crucial World Cup tie
against Portugal without two of their most
experienced players. The former Portsmouth pair of
Kevin Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari (who was
in any case suspended for the encounter) had their
accreditation removed and were sent home by their
Football Association the evening before the game.
The news leaked out to the media just hours ahead
of the kick off.
“I don’t think it had an impact,” said the
Ghana coach Akwasi Appiah after the game. “The
boys played well, we had some chances, but the
boys couldn’t take them. No I don’t think what
happened had any effect.” Yet the oddity is that
according Appiah the incident that sparked the
pair’s departure happened on Tuesday.
It was the climax of a lengthy dispute about
appearance payments, which reached a head when the
players had collectively refused to train. In a
heated meeting with officials that evening,
Muntari allegedly slapped a Ghanaian FA
representative in the face, while Boateng so
verbally harangued his manager that Appiah had to
be escorted to his room in tears by the team
psychologist. It was not ideal preparation for a
match against a team including in its number the
finest player in the world.
“A player wants what he expected, when doesn’t
get it, he reacts,” said Appiah. “This is what
it was about.” However, the dispute then seemed
to have reached a satisfactory conclusion on
Wednesday evening when, in a manner resembling OJ
Simpson’s highway car chase, a convoy of police
vehicles accompanied a security van through
Brasilia into the Ghanaian team hotel, delivering
$3 million in cash to cover the absent payments.
But once the money was handed over, retrospective
action was taken against the players for their
insurrection earlier in the week.
“The decision to send two players home was to do
with disciplinary issues,” the quietly spoken
Appiah explained. “Anything that will benefit
the whole team has to be done, that was the reason
for the decision.” The manager, however, had
been put into a hugely difficult position by the
dispute. He was trying to organise a young side
while its more experienced members were in open
revolt.

Source - Daily Telegraph (UK)

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