Kuffour was a bad influence - Osam Duodu

Black Stars head coach, Mr. Fred Osam Doudu, has been explaining his reasons for sending away star defender, Samuel Osei Kuffuor from the team, saying he sacked the Bayern Munich defender from his team because he has been a bad influence on other members of the squad.

Mr. Duodu told the GNA in Segou that he could no longer contain the misconduct of Kuffuor as it stands the chance of spilling over to other members of the team, thereby creating an ungovernable situation in camp.

He said the defender was insolent and saucy to Mr. Edward Osei Kwaku, Minister of Youth and Sports and Mr. Ben Koufie, chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and it would have been an act of irresponsibility on the part of the technical team to continue keeping him in the team.

Mr. Duodu said what broke the camel's back was the attitude of the player after the barren draw with Morocco on Tuesday.

”When every body was brooding over the result and thinking about how to make amends in the next match Sammy and a Ghanaian journalist were spotted in nightclub by an official of one of the teams in our group.”

The official came to me and wanted to know if our camp rules permit players to go partying after matches in the middle of a tournament. Mr. Doudu said he checked Kuffuor's room after he had received the complaint and to his utter dismay, the Bayern defender was nowhere to be found.

”I left a message for him to see me as soon as he returned and it was close to midnight when he returned. ?I then gave him his passport and told him the driver would drop him at the airport the next day because he has persistently flouted camp rules and allowing him to continue this way would be detrimental to the objectives of the team.

Meanwhile commercial sex workers in Segou have relocated to an area opposite the CAN Village where all the Group B teams are accommodated. After Ghana's first match against the Atlas Lions of Morocco on Tuesday, the prostitutes who had dressed to kill? however had a bad business as some Ghanaian supporters who became suspicious of their ploy stood guard for hours to discourage any member of the Stars who would be tempted to join the band.

After about two hours some of the girls, mostly from Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Cote d Ivoire engaged the Ghanaian guards in verbal exchanges. They threatened to deal with them if they did not leave their sentry points.

The Ghanaians under the leadership of Joseph Langabell and Joe Asagba however stood their grounds and remained at their posts till the early hours of Wednesday.