Ghana to name just 23 players for AFCON camp

Ghana coach Goran Stevanovic will name only his final 23 players for the camping for 2012 African Cup of Nations to avoid the angry fall-outs from players, MTNFootball.com can reveal. 

It has been the norm for a 30-man squad to be named for camping before the team is pruned down to the final squad for tournaments.

But the angry reaction from players and verbal insults directed at the coaching staff and management team when players are dropped have conspired for a change in policy.

This means Stevanovic will name his final squad of 23 players who will travel directly from their clubs in Europe to the camping base in South Africa on 7 January.

When Laryea Kingston was dropped from the final squad for the 2010 World Cup squad, the midfielder attempted to attack the then coach Milovan Rajevac but he succeeded in pouring unprintable insults on the Serbian manager.

A similar incident played out when defender Francis Dickoh was dropped for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana. He accused then coach Claude Leroy of favouritism and since then the defender has not been called into the team.

Days before the 2006 World Cup, Baba Armando accused management, coach Ratomir Dujkovic and captain Stephen Appiah of conspiring to drop him from the team and wages a media war against the team and even against some journalists.

To avoid such incidents only 23 players will go into camping in Rustenberg from 7 January.

Ghana FA insiders have also revealed that some players would be put on a stand-by list to serve as back-up in cases of injuries and illness.

This is to avoid clubs in Europe preventing players from being called because of the 14-day deadline it must give teams before inviting players.

The team will be based in the town of Rustenburg to give the players the maximum concentration in their pre-tournament preparations.

The squad will head straight to their base for the duration of the camp which is most likely to be held at the newly built multi-million dollar Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus at Rustenburg.

The excellent facilities will also ensure tough preparation as Ghana seeks to win the tournament for the first time since 1982.