Former Ghana coach and current Congo tacticianà Claude Le Roy has stated thatà the Ghanaian Football Association cheated by including players in their Under-23 squad who do not fall into that age group.
The Frenchman made the controversial comments after his Congo U-23 side lost 1-0 to the their opponents from Ghana.à The Red Devils took on theà Black Meteors in Accra on Saturday, with a 44th minuteà Enoch Ebo Andoh goal deciding the first leg of their tie.
Le Roy was in charge of the Black Stars fromà 2006 toà 2008, and part of his responsibilities at the time was to choose a squad of local-based footballers to compete at the firstà edition of the CHANà in 2009.
Speaking to the media at the post-match press conference, the 69-year-oldà was angry, claiming that some of the players he had previously coached in the junior Ghana side were still playing against his Congolese outfit at the weekend.
ââ¬ÅGhana won with a nice goal but here is a Congo side with six players who are all of the right age, not like some players in the Ghana team today,â⬠the coachà said.
ââ¬ÅI coached some of the players who played today in the CHANà qualifiers in 2008. I went to Niger with them and I know what Iââ¬â¢m talking about. I am not joking my brother, you can check. Some played with me way back in 2008 and they are now under-23 playing today. Itââ¬â¢s not fair,â⬠he stated.
ââ¬I left Ghana in 2008. Some of the players I saw today were part of that CHANà team, so how are they 23 years or less? I donââ¬â¢t want to go into all that now because I have only one week to prepare my team for the second leg, but you journalists here know that what I am saying is the truth,â⬠he added.