Arhinful: Prioritise players’ health to prevent needless deaths

Football clubs in the country must pay meticulous attention to the health of their players even before clearing them to play football matches, former Black Stars striker Augustine Arhinful has admonished.

“Clubs should do a lot of thorough checks before licences are given, because in Europe you do your test and get certified before the federation gives you the licence to play. I remember when I was playing in Ankaragücü, one of our players from South Africa went through the normal medical checks and his licence was revoked because they felt he was not fit and he could not play in the Turkish League again,” Arhinful recounted to Class Sports’ Desmond Decker on Monday June 13.

He was hopeful that such systems for testing players’ medical conditions would be implemented in Ghana “especially concerning the heart before allowing footballers to play”.

His comments come in the wake of the death of former Hearts of Oak player Uriah Asante. The 24-year-old footballer’s death was confirmed by his cousin, Adolf Gyimah, on Monday June 13. He is reported to have suffered a cardiac arrest and died at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.

Mr Arhin noted that he was saddened when he heard the news because the death of the footballer “is strange but in all things we need to give thanks to God”.

The former Ashgold forward continued: “Whether we are sad or not we have to leave [things in the hands of God] because he alone knows best.

“It is strange that of late a lot of cardiac issues are creeping up in football. We have to do thorough medical checks before games.”