John Paintsil: From jail and lost £2.3 million contract to jobless for 4 years

Assistant coach of the Ghanaian national team, Black Stars, John Paintsil has highlighted some low points of his career as a footballer, which include going to jail and losing contracts that made him redundant for 4 years.

John Paintsil, affectionately called J.P by his colleagues and fans, was a revered defender who made an impact locally and internationally playing for clubs like Fulham, West Ham United, Leicester City and also serving as an assistant coach at Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa.

The astute footballer who sat with MzGee on ‘Just Being Us’ for a conversation on his journey to stardom revealed, “It was a difficult moment; it all started with my family issues. Divorce and all, it became a media issue, every day and all. I lost my contract, the money involved was about 2.3 million pounds. It was a new contract I signed, and then news came that I stabbed my ex-wife in the eye, which never happened."

JP said he had no clue how the rumour that led to his downfall emerged but admitted the relentlessness of his mother, who is now deceased, and her fervent prayers saw him through that phase of his life.

“I don’t know where that news came from, and I was arrested; they put me in jail. I was imprisoned; it was difficult, so I was out of contract for 4 years. No team wanted to sign me.”

Despite the odds, John Paintsil, who has had a successful football career spanning decades, outlined some factors to attain an admirable feat in sportsmanship.

“It takes determination. In sports, respect is important, hard work is important, and punctuality and time are very important. You cannot play with these 3 things and also put your teammates before you,” John advised.

Asked why it was important for a player to put his teammates first, JP retorted, “You cannot go to training and start kicking your teammates because if you kick this one, you kick this one, you kick this one, 5 players become your enemies, you are done... if these 5 players are key in the team and they do not want you, they will go to the coach (and let him know) we do not want this player,” he tells MzGee.