Ex-Ghana star Awudu Issaka has made an explosive statement implying that recent injuries suffered by Black Stars captains could have been orchestrated following the recent injury to Sulley Muntari.
The former Anderlecht star has warned future Black Stars captains Derek Boateng and Anthony Annan to take ‘spiritual action’ to avoid suffering similar ‘strange injuries’.
Issaka urged Ghana football authorities to ‘take action’ to stop the menace of taking hold in the Black Stars, preventing star players from blossoming.
The silky midfielder was commenting on the recent injury suffered by Black Stars stand-in captain Sulley Muntari while on holidays in his native Ghana.
Muntari joined a growing list of Black Stars captains who have suffered career-threatening injuries after taking the leadership role in the national team.
Inspirational ex-captain Stephen Appiah’s career took a nose-dive after suffering a serious knee injury, and his replacement John Mensah has struggled with serious back and ligament problems.
The next in line Michael Essien also suffered three successive serious knee injuries which nearly ended his career but for the massive support he got from his English club Chelsea.
John Pantsil suffered a serious knee injury in January 2010 when he was due to take the captaincy in the absence of Mensah and Essien at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and his career has never been the same since then.
Muntari took over on temporary basis following the absences of all the captains in this month’s World Cup qualifiers and suffered a serious injury soon after the qualifiers and has still not regained his top form.
The occurrences have pushed Issaka to claim that there could be more to the injuries suffered by the captains insisting players eyeing the leadership position in future must ‘protect’ themselves.
“It is very strange and suspicious that in recent times any player who takes the Black Stars captaincy suffers a serious injury,†Issaka told Asempa FM.
“Just recount the number of Black Stars captains who have suffered injuries since the time of Stephen Appiah and you will see that there is more to it.
“We as fans of the Black Stars and the football authorities must seriously find out more about these strange injuries.
“Those next in line like Derek Boateng and Anthony Annan must prepare themselves well with spiritual action to avoid these injuries. It is very strange.â€
Stephen Appiah has since retired from the Black Stars while the future of Michael Essien with the team is uncertain.
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