Kwasi Appiah denies refusing to explain call-ups to Black Stars fans

Ghana Black Stars' coach Kwasi Appiah has denied that he said he owes no one an explanation over his call-ups to the Black Stars insisting he was quoted out of context.

The 58-year-old has come in for severe criticism following the interview but he says he is accountable to Ghanaians for his squad as they appointed him to the post.

Appiah revealed that defending his squad for every qualifying match is impossible because of timing, claiming explaining his squads for tournaments is more feasible.

The coach, who is in his second spell as Black Stars trainer, received a backlash from the public after his decision to leave out some key players for the last game backfired spectacularly.

The Black Stars lost 1-0 to Kenya and many pointed fingers at the absence of the players as the cause of the defeat, prompting call for him to explain his squads when he makes his call-up.

This resulted in his alleged response that he owes no one an explanation over his call-ups but Appiah says his interview was completely blown out of proportion.

"I have been taken out of contest, I never said I owe no one explanation on my national team call up. I was offered the Black Stars coaching job by Ghanaians so how can I say I owe them no explanation? No wise person will say that," Appiah told FOX FM.

"What I said was that, we are in rebuilding period where we call up lots of players for assessment, so explaining reasons behind every call up will be difficult.

"But when players are called up for the major tournament (AFCON), by then everyone must have watched the players during qualifiers to know of their ability.

"At that time a press conference can be staged to explain the squad list to all Ghanaians."

Appiah has come under criticisms for dropping some key players such as Asamoah Gyan, Andre Ayew, Jordan Ayew for the match against Kenya while giving opportunities to new players who are not tried and tested.

Ghana’s defeat to the Harambee Stars of Kenya has been attributed to Kwesi Appiah inconsistent player call-ups for the Black Stars by his critics with some seeking explanation over the call-ups.

Kwasi Appiah, however, believes the several Ghanaian football loving fans who behave like coaches won’t understand the reason why he calls certain players, hence no need to explain.

The Black Stars’ next game is a 2019 AFCON qualifying doubleheader against Sierra Leone in October.