Accra, June 21, GNA 96 Black Stars Defender, John Painstil's waving of the Israeli flag during the celebration of Ghana's second goal scored against Czech in a World Cup match on Saturday had no official support, Ghanaian Foreign Minister, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo told Ambassadors of six Arab nations accredited to Ghana.
In a press briefing after a meeting with Ambassadors of Egypt; Libya; Morocco; Palestine; Saudi Arabia and Syria, Nana Akufo-Addo said he had conveyed Ghana Government's sincere apologies to the Arab World and the International Community for the unfortunate isolated incident. He said it was the hope of the Government of the Republic of Ghana that this incident would not affect the cordial relationship between the country and her Arab friends.
Nana Akkufo-Addo said Painstil's flag waving incident was a regrettable isolated act of an individual, who was completely ignorant of the political and democratic implications of his act.
He said Ghana as a country would continue to handle its relationship with Israel and the Arab countries in the Middle East conflict on an even handed approach as it had done over the years. Nana Akufo-Addo said there had been no shift in Ghana's position in terms of support and expressed the hope that the incident, which was very unfortunate, would die a natural death.
2Already our Ambassadors in Saudi Arabia, Cairo and Tripoli, who were summoned by the respective Foreign Ministries of those countries, have communicated the Government's position on the issue to their satisfaction.
2At the moment there has not been any ugly reprisals aside some death threats through the phone to some of our embassies in the Arab countries.2
Nana Akufo-Addo said he was happy that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) had publicly declared that the player was unaware of the connotations of his act and was deeply remorseful.
He said it is important for the incident to be put to rest early to enable the Black Stars, who are not just representing the nation but Africa and currently traumatised by the ongoing events, to have the peace of mind to focus on the task ahead.
Painstil created a furore in the Arab World when cameras in the stadium captured him waving the Israeli flag during the celebration of Ghana's 2-0 win over the Czech Republic.
The player, who plays his football in Israel, said the gesture was to acknowledge the presence of some friends in the crowd, who had travelled all the way from Israel to watch him.
