Former Ghana defender John Paintsil has revealed that he was racially abused by a teammate when he was invited to the Black Stars in the early stages of his career.
According to him, being called to the Black Stars during the early stages of his career saw him suffer some ill-treatment from senior players in the team.
Speaking in an interview with Accra-based radio station on his some bad experiences he shared with the national team he said, "The most painful and hurtful part of segregation I have endured was here in Ghana when a teammate called me a monkey from Berekum ".
"I experienced segregation even at the Black Stars camp. Some teammates had issues with why players who came from certain parts of the country "
"When I joined the Black Stars at one point I had to fight a teammate who looked down on me just because of where I come from", he added.
John Paintsil made his debut for the Black Stars in 2002 and was part of Ghana's squad that played at the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup in Germany and South Africa respectively.