George Alhassan has revealed the long-standing secret behind the Black Stars failure to win the Africa cup of Nations of title.
The former Ghana striker says the senior national team has been cursed by a successful Black Stars squad who were not honoured by the nation despite receiving mouthwatering promises from then head of state J.J Rawlings.
They were not favorites, rather outsiders, as a result of inadequate preparations ahead of the competition but they won the trophy.
Had it not been the 1982 Coup d’état that toppled President Limann’s government, Ghana wouldn’t have participated in the 1982 AFCON, due to diplomatic reasons and financial constraints.
Black Stars 1982 squad
When the new government led by Flight lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, the chairman of PNDC, took over, he insisted that Ghana should participate. Lo and behold the team progressed through to the finals and defeated the host nation Libya at a packed stadium with Colonel Gaddafi present.
Former President Rawlings and Colonel Gaddafi
According to Alhassan, who was the oldest player in the team, Rawlings’ decsion not honour them on behalf of the nation upset them into invoking curses on the Black Stars
“We fought hard to win Ghana the 1982 AFCON. Everyday Rawlings would send us a message to encourage us ahead of the game, but when we won the trophy and returned to Ghana the only thing he did was just a salute.
“All the players were bitter about the treatment and we cursed the Black Stars that they will struggle to win titles,” he told Happy FM.
It’s been 35 years since then and Ghana have failed to win the competition.