Veteran Ghanaian coach, J.E Sarpong has revealed why Kwesi Appiah stripped off Asamoah Gyan's Black Stars captaincy ahead of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt.
With less than a month to the start of the tournament in Cairo, Andre Ayew was named as the new skipper for the side with Gyan serving as the General Captain for the team.
The decision by Kwesi Appiah, who was the then head coach forced Gyan to retire from the national team but rescinded his decision following a presidential intervention.
However, the former Great Olympics coach speaking in an interview revealed that he called Appiah and criticised his decision.
He also revealed that Kwesi Appiah justified his decision by saying the changes were needed ahead of the tournament.
"In every human when you work to a certain point your body will tell you when to stop. But psychologically they have disowned him and he has no choice but to call it quits. Look at the Black Stars captaincy issue that came even I called Kwesi Appiah at midnight because I coached Kwesi Appiah at Asante Kotoko and he is like a son to me," he told Accra-based Original FM as monitored by Footballghana.com.
"I told him that what he did was not correct because a player is going to a tournament in two weeks' time you don't strip him of the captaincy.
"Yes, I called him it was midnight and he explained things to me that this is the reason why. He said if you are a captain in the Black Stars for a certain years they have to change you that is what he told me. It was a flimsy excuse right I told him I am going to Adom and I will say it and I said it there.
"So I said Kwesi, you should allow the boy to go to the tournament and what you should have done was that even if you don't want him to play put him on the bench.
"Because you can have a playing captain you can put the band on someone to play and make him part of the team he will understand. Well, Asamoah Gyan is a human being but I heard that he has patched up with him," he added.
Gyan has not played for the senior national team after the tournament until his retirement. Ghana however exited at the Round of 16 after losing to Tunisia on penalty shootouts.