Ex-Ghana striker Tony Yeboah claims the dishonesty and lack of transparency of officials cost the country the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations trophy in Senegal.
The former Frankfurt and Leeds United striker narrated how he was denied the armband in the absence of suspended captain Abedi Pele for the final against Cote d’Ivoire.
Pele was suspended for the match after accumulating yellow cards and the captaincy was given to defender Tony Baffoe hours before the showdown at the Stade de l’Amitié, Dakar.
Yeboah believes that demoralized the team as they lost 11-10 on penalties to the Elephants.
”Nothing went wrong among the players during the 1992 tournament. It was the officials who were not honest to the players and that affected our performance on the pitch,” Yeboah told Graphic Sports in Kumasi.
”However, just before the match, our coach Otto Pfister told us in the dressing room that he had just been given a letter from Accra, indicating that the captain’s band should rather be given to Tony Baffoe.
”Everybody was shocked to hear that news, so some of the key players were very disturbed and came to console me that I should not worry.
”But I told them not to worry about the treatment meted out to me but rather focus on the match and put up their best.
”There was no transparency and honesty among our officials, and this eventually affected our play on the pitch. In football, any trivial thing can affect a team’s performance, and I can say that the action of officials in 1992 was the main cause of our failure to win the trophy for Ghana.”
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