Afena-Gyan’s uncle reveals reason behind player’s decision to reject Black Meteors call-up

Abrefa Gyan, the uncle of striker Felix Afena-Gyan has revealed the reasons behind the decision of his nephew to turn down the call-up to join the Black Meteors for the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations.

Felix Afena-Gyan has been a subject of interest for media discussion in the last couple of days after turning down an invitation from Black Meteors coach, Ibrahim Tanko for the double header qualifiers against Algeria.

The decision of the Cremonese striker has divided opinions in the Ghanaian football space as some believe that he made the right decision because the country didn't treat him well by dropping him from the World Cup squad.

Reacting to the controversies and the commentaries surrounding Afena-Gyan's decision, Abrefa has urged the media and the public "to be patient with the boy" because he was not treated well in the Black Stars.

According to Abrefa, the technical handlers of the Black Stars didn't treat his nephew well because they should have spoken to him after dropping him out of the World Cup squad and not leaving the boy to his faith.

“We’ve all heard how difficult it was for the FA to approach Afena-Gyan and persuade him. We also know Mourinho’s intention to shape the boy and why he wasn’t ready to play for the national team at the time, but the authorities did everything they could to entice him into the team."

“And, as everyone can attest, his performance was excellent [against Nigeria]. However, if you are a coach who isn’t good at dealing with issues in the locker room, the team will always have issues."

“Even if you wouldn’t give him an invite, you should go and explain things to him to psyche him up based on whatever you promised him to convince him. Assuring him of future call-ups, for example. Meeting his parents and agent to speak with him would be more beneficial than simply selecting your players and ignoring him, giving the impression that he can choose to play or not, and you don’t care,” Abrefa said in an interview as quoted by 3news.com

Felix Afena-Gyan since making his debut against Nigeria in the 2022 FIFA World Cup playoff first leg in Kumasi has scored a goal in 7 games for the Black Stars.

JE/KPE