Black Meteors Management Committee Chairman, Frederick Acheampong, has denied claims that the Ghana Football Association gave a late call-up to Felix Afena Gyan, the Cremonese attacker, for the U-23 2023 Afcon qualifiers against Algeria.
The 20-year-old was one of the eight foreign-based players invited for the fixture but declined to participate, citing his unpreparedness.
In an interview with Citi Sports, Acheampong cleared the air on Gyan's decision to reject the call-up from Ghana's U-23 technical team.
"Afena Gyan's invitation was not late," Acheampong said. "I have followed a lot of discussions around the media landscape that the FA handed him a late call up."
He explained, "He was one of the first foreign-based players we invited, and the President of the Ghana Football Association spoke to me personally and told me that I should work with the technical team to draft letters to their clubs so they release them on time."
Acheampong added that "Ibrahim Tanko spoke to him personally, long before we engaged the likes of Salim Adams, Ernest Nuamah, and the likes."
"Afena Gyan's manager relayed the information to Ibrahim Tanko that the player was not ready to play for the team," Acheampong said, concluding his statement.
Ghana has qualified for the 2023 CAF U23 AFCON to be held in Morocco from June 24 - July 8, 2023.