Rancorous George Afriyie excited U17 and U20 World Cups have been cancelled

In a shocking turn of events, former Vice President of the Ghana Football Association, George Afriyie has hit the streets in a joyous mood following the cancellation of the 2021 FIFA U17 and U20 World Cups.

FIFA had announced in the late hours of Thursday that the two international tournaments have been called off due to the recent rise in the COVID-19 cases.

FIFA upon calling off the tournament revealed that the host countries of Indonesia and Peru, as well as their member associations have all given indications that they cannot go ahead with the hosting of the tournament.

Moments after the publication by FIFA, the former FA Vice President who doubles as the owner of Division One League side Okyeman Planners took to his Facebook page to celebrate the news to the shock of many of his followers.

“News just in is that FIFA have just cancelled the World U17 and U20 tournaments. Now you can have 10 players in the Team. Jah alone a Christian,” the former GFA Vice President wrote.

The awful and spiteful conduct of the former Ghana FA Executive Committee member follows the public outburst of his close compatriot Abdul Salam Yakubu who accused the GFA of not giving equal opportunities to all Ghanaian players.

Yakubu, the campaign manager for George Afriyie during the GFA Presidential elections and also an inseparable ally of the Okyeman Planners owner in an unsubstantiated allegation accused the Kurt Okraku-led FA of nepotism in player selection into the national teams.

Yakubu alleged that players belonging to clubs affiliated to George Afriyie or Osei Kwaku Palmer, both failed GFA Presidential Candidates, were ignored for the U20 side during the 2020 WAFU Championship held in Benin.

George, who in his recent Facebook rants, has been insinuating same as Salam Yakubu could not hide his joy following the cancellation of the two juvenile tournaments by FIFA.

The churlish and petulant comment from George Afriyie has shocked many people who believe the experienced football administrator is being self-centered considering how he used his role during Kwesi Nyantakyi’s era to fuse many of his players into the various national teams.

With the juvenile tournaments serving as a breeding grounds for the future of Ghana’s senior national team and also providing a palatable marketing grounds for a lot of footballers, the comment from George Afriyie appear unfortunate considering the number of players who stood a chance of securing good deals to realise their dream of playing professional football.

Ghana also risk not getting quality players with stupendous international exposure for their senior national team with the cancellation of the tournaments.

Ghana’s U20 side had recently qualified for the U20 AFCON after winning the WAFU U20 Championship in Benin while the U17 side were set to play their zonal tournament in Togo next month to determine who qualifies for the AFCON.