Former Ghana defender Samuel Osei Kuffour says he was sacked from the Black Stars camp at the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations because he said the truth.
Kuffour, one of the senior players in the team back then confronted the technical handlers and management of the Black Stars over the poor living condition during the competition.
According to the former Bayern Munich star, the state of the team was extremely poor hence made things uncomfortable for himself and his colleagues.
As a senior player in the team, he decided to question the leaders just as to improve the living conditions of the players, an action which eventually cost his place in the squad hence his sacking from the camp.
“We went to Mali, when we got to Mali, honestly speaking it was a hell, I was playing for Bayern Munich at that time and the profile was very high,” he said on GTV Sports plus.
“Bayern were event reluctant to release me so I went back to Germany when I went I had a call from President Kuffour and he ordered me to go back and join the team, so I had to fly back to Ghana and join the team.
“When we got to Mali, where we were staying was a hell, a room without any toilet facility and we had to come out to even take our bath. We didn’t have a T-shirt and every player who was there will witness, we had nothing.
“By then I had a huge contract with Adidas so I had to organize Adidas clothes for the boys so we could have Adidas T-shirts and other things.
“They wanted us to go and watch a game between Morocco and Burkina Faso, none of the players could speak and I said it wasn’t the best time to wear fugu under that weather and go and watch games at the stadium, normally we should be in our track suit and sneakers and go and watch the game so we can be uniform. So I was just giving them this explanation.
“So the Minister agreed that we stayed over at the hotel rather than going to watch the game, it wasn’t even a hotel, it was a boys quarters but we had to sacrifice and stay there and then after the game against Morocco I was awarded the best player.
“When I got back to the hotel, myself, Emmanuel Duah, Isaac Boakye, John Mensah and Amankwah Mireku, we went to make a phone call and there was a call to our guest house that they wanted to see me.
“When I got there, there was nothing for them to say and I saw my passport on the table, and I asked them if they wanted me to go home. They had already prepared the ticket, so I picked my passport and the allowances they gave us for the entire tournament was $1200.
“So I packed my stuffs and got escorted by Mr. Fianoo and he told me it was one of those things. So I was sacked from the camp because I was able to tell them that what they were doing was wrong. And I was so glad because the late Ben Koffie apologized to me on several occasions after that.
“Eventually they said I went to the night club that was why I was sacked and to be Frank there was even no Night Club at where we were staying.”
Kuffour was one of Ghana’s highly-rated players prior to the tournament having won the UEFA Champions League with Bayern Munich a year before.
