Muntari, Kevin-Boateng deserve second chance – Nii Lante

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Nii Lante Vanderpuye, says he doesn’t think Sulley Muntari and Kevin-Boateng were given a fair hearing before being suspended from the Black Stars camp during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Speaking on Viasat One television on Tuesday, the minister said: “Honestly I don’t think the two players got a fair hearing before they were sacked.”

Asked if they two players deserved to be invited back into the team, the minister minced no words in saying, “in this life, I think everyone deserves a second chance and I believe that any Ghanaian, who can improve our team, deserves the chance to play for the senior national football team”.

Muntari and Boateng have not featured for the Black Stars after they were sacked from the team’s camp for allegedly disrespecting then head coach Kwesi Appiah,

Muntari was also sacked for engaging in a ferocious brawl with a management member of the GFA.

A statement on the GFA website, at the time, said both players had "been suspended indefinitely".

It added Boateng had used "vulgar verbal insults targeted at coach Kwesi Appiah" and said Muntari was guilty of an "unprovoked physical attack on an executive committee member".

The news came just hours before Ghana were eliminated from the tournament.

The then coach, Kwesi Appiah, said the pair could be invited back to the national team in the future if they were "performing well".

The Black Stars have had a difficult run in their attempt to qualify for a fourth straight World Cup with only 1 point from two games against Uganda and Egypt.

This has led to calls that the duo should be invited back to the team but coach Avram Grant hasn’t shown a desire to invite the pair anytime soon.