How Abedi Pele Ayew and Andre Ayew starred in Black Stars' most controversial captaincy troubles

Abedi Pele Ayew was announced as the captain of the Black Stars in a controversial manner ahead of the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations and his son is on the verge of being named in a similar fashion.

Asamoah Gyan announced his retirement from international football on Monday citing the issue of captaincy.

It is understood Gyan has been told by James Kwesi Appiah, the coach of the Black Stars that he will represent Ghana in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) not as the skipper of the team, but as the General captain.

It is believed the decision was made because there has been a prophecy that Ghana will win the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with Andre Ayew as the skipper, so the former Sunderland striker had to be sacrificed to pave way for that.

It is quite surprising that Coach Kwesi Appiah appeared not to have learnt anything from the captaincy issue that caused disunity in the Black Stars prior to the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Appiah and Abedi Pele Ayew were at the centre of the controversial captaincy decision and the Ghana gaffer was at the receiving end.

Charles Kumi Gyamfi of blessed memory arguably Ghana’s greatest coach of all-time was the technical director of the Black Stars in the early 1990s and prior to the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations he made a captaincy decision that became unpopular amongst many Ghanaian football fans.

CK Gyamfi stripped James Kwesi Appiah of his Black Stars captaincy prior to the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal.

He announced that Abedi Pele should replace Kwesi Appiah as the captain of the senior male national football team for the continental showpiece because the tournament had a lot of Francophone nations and coaches participating.

Kwesi Appiah Pulse Ghana

And since Abedi Pele who was playing for Marseille at the time spoke and understood French he was the right man to lead the Black Stars.

Kwesi Appiah was gutted, yet he played his role in the 1992 AFCON as a member of the Black Stars that finished runners-up losing on penalties against Ivory Coast in a marathon shootout.

The former Asante Kotoko skipper till date talks about the bizarre way he was removed as the skipper of the Black Stars.

Ghana have since had a smooth transition. Abedi Pele handed over the captaincy to C.K Akonnor after retiring.

C.K Akonnor however, wasn’t handed a call-up for the 2002 AFCON and the captaincy fell on Samuel Osei Kuffour, but he rejected it and Emmanuel Osei Kuffour was announced to lead the Black Stars for the tournament.

Stephen Appiah took over as the skipper after the Mali 2002 and captained the team for a period of eight years and he retired as the skipper of the side.

John Mensah succeeded Appiah, but his leadership was short-lived because of the lack of much playing time. The Obuasi born defender captained Ghana in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), but he was replaced few months after the tournament by Asamoah Gyan and he was reassigned as the General captain.

However, he wasn’t invited for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa and that was the end of the road for him in his international career.

Asamoah Gyan has since held the fort and with some few days to the announcement of the squad for the 2019 AFCON the former Udinese striker has shockingly called time on his exciting career that saw him bag 51 goals in 106 games.