Information gathered by GHANAsoccernet.com indicates that Belgium side Genk, have refused to allow Joseph Paintsil join the Black Meteors of Ghana ahead of the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations to be staged in Egypt.
The Black Meteors are in camp preparing for the tournament which begins on November 8, with Ghana playing its first match on the same date.
Head coach Ibrahim Tanko will be expecting his foreign based players to arrive this week to continue with preparations ahead of the tournament.
According to the FIFA rules on release of players to association teams, clubs are obliged to release their registered players to the the country which the player is eligible to play for if they are called up by the association concerned.
It also states that in terms of a final competition of an international tournament the player must be released 14 days before the first match in the competition.
Genk will want to keep Joseph Paintsil at this crucial point of the season and not lose him to national duty.
Moreover the AFCON U-23 tournament is not a major competition considered by FIFA thus Genk can refuse to allow the player join the national team.
Meanwhile, Joseph Paintsil has not featured in their last two games and according to our checks the player is frustrated by the lack of play time and is insisting on joining the national team ahead of the tournament.
“It is up to my club if they will allow me to leave and join the national team for the tournament. If they are not letting me play then they should allow me join the team”, he told GHANAsoccernet.com
Ghana U-23 coach will be expecting about 12 foreign based players to augment his squad ahead of the tournament.
By Herbert Boakye Yiadom