Baba 'Armando' Adamu has quit football. After a by no means boring career, the mercurial attacking midfielder will no longer take the field competitively again.
The superstar is leaving the football world at 33 years.
"It is time for me to quit football and move one," he reportedly told reporters. He was speaking in Kumasi, Ghana's second city, about his involvement with football now, revealing that it though had been in mind for the past seven years.
"I have been thinking of it since I failed to make the 2006 World Cup squad and now it is time for me to quit football and move on," he added.
The player did not leave without controversy, as he claims he was denied a chance to play in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
"Playing football has resulted in people trying to destroy my image and doing all kind of things. When I was ready to do my own thing for Ghana in Germany, I was denied the opportunity," he said. Armando told Boss FM that a press conference will take place in two weeks to officially announce his decision.
"A press conference will soon be organised for me to announce my decision and I will not be involved in any aspect of professional football. So in two weeks’ time, I will officially announce my decision at a press conference," he submitted.
His storied career has seen Adamu play for King Faisal and Kotoko and Berekum Chelsea in the local league. His relationship while at the Blues was fractious the whole way through since he signed two years ago.
"My troubles began all because Kyeremeh contacted me directly about playing for Chelsea. As soon as I finished talks with him, the news broke that I was about to sign for Chelsea."
"Then Oduro Sarfo and other management members began to question my close relationship with Kyeremeh, asking why I did not go through them before signing for the club.
"So I heard many things and decided to leave because if I stayed, the likes of Oduro Sarfo could make trouble for me. Besides, I wanted to maintain a good relationship with Kyeremeh, whom I look at as a father," he said.
Legacy
But even before his troubles with Chelsea, the player was synonymous with interesting headlines, according to supersport.com editor Gary Al-Smith. Baba Adamu got into a spot of bother in 2008, for allegedly signing with three licensed FIFA agents.
The revelation threatened to scupper his proposed US$100,000 deal with the Sudanese side Al Hilal. It was settled after a series of long talks behind closed doors.
Three years later, he revealed that he was born again. In 2011, in an interview, he attributed what nearly marred his brilliant career to bad agents and a frequent change of clubs.
He played for Sakaryaspor (Turkey), Lokomotiv Moskva, Al-Shabab, FC Rostselmash and FC Dinamo Minsk (Belarus), among others.
Armando has been quite aware of his reputation as a bit of a loudmouth, too. And he duly apologized in that 2011 interview.
"In the course of my career, I might have in one way or the other offended some football fans, the media, club officials and Ghanaians as a whole through my remarks or gestures. I take this opportunity to say I am deeply sorry and ask for forgiveness and promise it will not happen again," he said.
Injury
Like many gifted careers cut short early, the former Black Stars forward knew his time in the game was coming to an end a few years ago because of a long standing knee injury.
Last year, Adamu had fluid drained from his knee after a recurrence of the problem. The player has been afflicted with long term arthritis of the knee and medical sources say that may have cost him a place in Ghana’s 2006 World Cup squad.
He has never agreed, having accused officials of wanting to take bribes before including him in that team.
Last week, he relived his controversial days by claiming that nobody in the current Black Stars setup is better than he is, except for Andre Ayew. Armando did not stop there.
The last rant
"Counting from the captain Asamoah Gyan to the last player in the team now, there is no gifted or quality player like those former greats I mentioned," Adamu said.
"The current boys in no way can ever win us the trophy we are all praying for, because they are too ordinary. " He will be fondly remembered for his talent. But he will be remembered more as an unfulfilled potential with a large size of self-importance.
