Augustine Arhinful says he disagrees with allocating a certain percentage of the Black Stars squad to Ghana Premier League players but wants to see at least players from the country's top flight in coach Otto Addo's final squad for the World Cup in Qatar.
There are worries that players on the domestic scene may miss out on the final list due to competition from Ghanaians playing their club football abroad as the 2022 FIFA World Cup draws near. Black Stars coach Otto Addo is expected to submit Ghana's final 26-man squad for the Mundial in the coming days.
Strong arguments have been made for Danlad Ibrahim of Asante Kotoko and Daniel Afriyie Barnieh of Accra Hearts of Oak to be included in Ghana's final World Cup roster.
“If you say, you want to have a quota, whether the local players are performing or not performing because there’s a quota for like five players to be in the team, I don’t think it will be the best thing to do,” he said on Nhyira FM.
“We should pick them based on merit and that will be up to the technical team because Barnieh, for instance, has been part of the Black Stars for some few matches and he is also the leading striker for the local national team.
“Like I told you, it is my hope and wish that, for the 26-man squad, we should get at least three local players to be included because not all the 26 players are going to play.
“So, if we take them there, they will get the experience and exposure of participating at the World Cup and that could be beneficial in the future.”
Ghana will play Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay in the group stages.