Ghana FA sweating after European leagues plan to stop Black Stars players

Ghana could lose top players for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers to be played early next month as European leagues plan not to release players.

The Black Stars will commence their World Cup qualifiers against Ethiopia on September 3 at the Cape Coast Stadium before they travel to Johannesburg for the South Africa encounter on September.

Head coach CK Akonnor could lose key players like Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace), Baba Rahaman (Chelsea), Andy Yiadom (Reading), Daniel Amartey (Leicester City), Thomas Partey (Arsenal), Tariq Fosu (Brentford), Emmanuel Gyasi (Spezia), Baba Iddrisu (Real Mallorca) and others for the qualifiers if the situation do not change.

This as a result of Premier League, Spanish and Italian clubs’ decision not to release players over fear of mandatory quarantine on their arrival from international duty.

Meanwhile, FIFA responded with a personal message from President Gianni Infantino to British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson on Wednesday.

“I have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and appealed for the necessary support, in particular, so players are not deprived of the opportunity of representing their countries in qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup, which is one of the ultimate honors for a professional footballer,” Infantino said in a statement on Wednesday. “I have suggested that an approach similar to that adopted by the UK government for the final stages of the Euro 2020 be implemented for the upcoming international matches.”

The African football body has also asked the British government to grant exemption to the continent’s stars for the second round of the World Cup qualifiers that will start in September.

“Same treatment previously applied to Europe” to players needing to go to Africa for games. Egypt and South Africa are among the African nations on Britain’s red list.

“The circumstances in the African countries on the red list in many cases are in fact less severe than other countries not currently on this list or for which exemptions were previously provided,” CAF said in a statement.