Asamoah Gyan appointment, there is everything wrong with that – Dafeamekpor insist

Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, the Member of Parliament for South Dayi Constituency, has criticised former Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan over his recent political alignment with the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Dafeamekpor’s remarks come in response to Gyan’s inclusion in the NPP’s campaign manifesto appointees for the upcoming 2024 elections. The ex-striker has been appointed to head the sub-committee of Youth and Sports in the NPP’s campaign structure, as well as being part of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s Manifesto Committee.

The Parliamentarian raised concerns about Gyan’s political association, stating that a national figure of his stature should remain publicly non-partisan.

Dafeamekpor stated, “There is everything wrong with that. When you are a national figure like that…you have to remain non-partisan.”

Dafeamekpor went further, suggesting a connection between Gyan’s NPP affiliation and his infamous penalty miss at the 2010 World Cup quarterfinal against Uruguay. The miss, according to Dafeamekpor, was a deliberate attempt to prevent the then NDC-led government from receiving acclaim.

“I can reasonably say that it is because of partisan politics that he intentionally missed the penalty; for this government (NDC) to get all the glory, he won’t play to score the penalty,” he alleged in an interview with Radio XYZ.

Asamoah Gyan who retired from professional football in June 2023 holds the record as Africa’s all-time top scorer at the World Cup with six goals and the all-time top scorer of the Black Stars with 51 goals.