Bempah blasts Mahama over Ayew brothers

Astute Ghanaian Journalist Osei Owusu- Bempah has criticised President John Mahama’s decision to intervene in the Ayew’s impasse with the FA describing his action as ‘negotiating with terrorists’.

The Ghanaian leader held a meeting with the two aggrieved Marseille players at the Flagstaff House on Tuesday and succeeded in convincing them to rescind their decision.

Andre and Jordan called temporal time on their international careers in February for varied reasons.

While Andre claimed his relationship with some management members of the Black Stars had deteriorated, his younger brother wanted to be guaranteed of regular playing time with the national team.

It took the intervention of President Mahama to get the two players to rescind their decision after several efforts from the Ghana FA failed.

The ace broadcaster believes President Mahama has set a bad precedent by going ahead with the negotiations.

“I think the president went too far and it’s unfortunate. Nobody has questioned the quality of the two players, but it goes beyond that,” Bempah told Asempa FM in Accra.

He added: “The two players gave reasons for their decision to quit temporarily. Andre said he had issues with some management members. Now that he has agreed to come back because he spoke with the president, has his so-called bad relationship with the management team changed?

“Jordan said he wanted to be guaranteed of regular playing time because he plays regularly for Marseille. Who says because you play regularly in your team, you become an automatic choice at even a second division team?

“I think he has negotiated with terrorists. I agree managers should be able to manage the ego of players and all that.

“But in so doing you make sure, it does not have a bad influence on other players who are also watching what is happening.

“What haven’t been said about Asamoah Gyan? He was castigated with his parents threatened with death just because he missed a penalty at the World Cup and a similar penalty miss during the semi-final match against Zambia in the 2012 Nations Cup.

“Gyan’s situation was worse. He has suffered abuse than any current player of the team.

“When he decided to quit, did we see any president making attempts to talk to him? Why is he not a Ghanaian? or because his surname is not Ayew?

“Please I will say it again. What the president did was wrong. He has negotiated with ‘terrorists’.

The decision by the two players means they will be available for selection when the Black Stars line up against Zambia in a crucial final game in September.