Toure will not play for Ghana at 2012 CAN

By Ameenu Shardow

Ahmed Toure is unlikely to be eligible to play for Ghana until after the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, GHANAsoccernet.com has learnt.

This is because the Ghana FA is still waiting for a response from the Ivorian Football Federation with respect to the Asante Kotoko striker’s desire to switch nationalities.

It is upon this important piece of documentation which will confirm the 24-year-old has not played for the Ivorian A team that the Ghana FA can make a formal request to Fifa to put the actual process in motion.

With the uncertainty surrounding when this correspondence from the Ivorian Federation will arrive and with the Nations Cup drawing even closer, it has become practically evident that last season’s Premier League Player of the Year will not be available for selection even if Ghana’s coach Goran Stevanovic will like to take him along to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

“We have sent a letter to the Ivorian Federation concerning the nationality switch of Toure but we are yet to get a response,” Ghana FA President Kwasi Nyantakyi told GHANAsoccernet.com.

“The process in getting a successful nationality switch is quiet laborious and therefore I doubt he (Toure) will make the Nations Cup squad.”

Ghana drawn in Nations Cup Group D alongside Botswana, Guinea and Mali will name its squad for next year’s finals on December 15 at a Press Conference in Accra.