The contingent of Asante Kotoko that traveled to Washington DC, USA, to partake in the international friendly against DC United, which was eventually cancelled, has returned to Ghana.
It was a trip that many wished the club never made after two of its players absconded from the team’s hotel on Friday, October 11, after arriving in the land of free the day before.
Esmat AbdalHamid Mohamed and Obdoelkarem Yoouef Yagoub, both Sudanese nationals on loan to the Porcupine Warriors, meticulously executed a well devised plan a day after the team touched down on the American capital.
An international Ghanaian journalist based in the United States of America, Alhaji Seidu Adamu, confirmed to Nana Darkwa Gyasi on the Sports Pack show on Max FM that the Sudanese pair discreetly left the team on Friday morning before a report was made to the local police after they were still AWOL by Saturday morning.
“The police were brought in when they still failed to turn up on Saturday morning. After going through the hotel’s CCTV cameras, the police determined that the pair were picked up by a vehicle at around 11 a.m. That was the last time they were seen,” Alhaji said in the interview.
After contacting the Embassy of the Sudan in Massachusetts Avenue, Washington DC, Kotoko were assured the players would return to the team base after visiting relatives in the state.
“Upon further investigations, a text message obtained from the Sudanese embassy on Saturday morning confirmed that the boys were in Washington DC, saying they had gone to visit family members and would return, which they never did,” he alleged.
Seidu Adamu added one of the players turned down an international call-up from the head coach of the Sudanese national team, Kwesi Appiah, to face Ghana in the double header of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for the Kotoko’s participation in the Ghana Week Celebrations.
“Before Kotoko departed Ghana, the boys left their bags to their teammates in the Sudan national team. Credible information reaching me indicated that Kwesi Appiah even wanted to call one of them because of his experience with the Ghanaian game, but he declined, saying he wanted to be part of Kotoko’s team to the USA,” he added.
Organizers of the FIFA-sanctioned friendly encounter had to hurriedly place an SOS call to Ghanaian footballers residing in the State of Washington DC to join the Kotoko side, that traveled with only seven players due to visa complications to form part of a Ghana Week DC Select Side, which defeated DC United 2-1 at the Audi Field.
