Black Stars and PAOK FC defender Abdul-Baba Rahman has explained why he opted out of the Black Stars squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
He described the decision as a “tough call”.
Rahman and Fatawu Issahaku are said to have requested of Black Stars coach Chris Hughton not to select them for the tournament, to be held in Ivory Coast.
They were originally named in the 55-man provisional list submitted to the Confederation of African Football (Caf).
Truly, the names of the two former Dreams FC players were not in the final 27-man squad announced by the coach in Accra on Monday, January 1.
“I just wanted to say that decision to opt out of the AFCON was solely based on footballing reasons and nothing else,” Baba Rahman explained in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.
“Playing for my country will always be the highest point of my career and everytime I have been lucky to wear the shirt I have given my all,” he said but indicated: “The last few years I have had to battle injuries and recovery times and I feel that it’s best in the interest of my career and that of the team to only play when I don’t have to think about recovery or pain- that way I can always give my best to the team.”
Rahman, who was part of the Black Stars squad at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, said he will be “cheering the team and pushing them on to try win us the AFCON we all desire”.
“But as of now let’s all support anyone the manager picks because the most important thing is Ghana which is bigger than any individual.”
He noted that the careers of footballers are “very short and sometimes we have to make these tough calls for the general interest of the nation we love the most and that of career to enable longevity”.
The former Chelsea player has been a key member of each Ghana squad at the continental tournament since 2015, when the four-time champions lost another trophy on penalties to Ivory Coast.
