Former GFA president Kwesi Nyantakyi has disclosed that Laryea Kingston’s inability to feature at the 2006 World Cup was due to the FA’s failure to appeal his suspension on time.
According to him, an official of the FA was tasked with filing the appeal but it wasn’t done on time, leading to the midfielder missing the tournament in Germany.
“Ghana appealed [Laryea Kingston’s suspension], but the truth of the matter is that the appeal was filed out of time,” Nyantakyi said in a yet-to-be-aired interview with Joy Sports.
“Unfortunately, Laryea Kingston was suspended due to the red card in Egypt during the African Cup of Nations (AFCON). We did, but it was filed out of time. Yes, it was filed out of time.”
Laryea was a key member of the Black Stars between 2002 and 2010, making 41 appearances and scoring six goals.
The 41-year-old was, however, not part of Ghana’s squad when the Black Stars featured at their maiden World Cup in 2006 due to a three-match suspension he received during the AFCON earlier that year.
He subsequently missed the Black Stars’ ultimate group match against Zimbabwe at the AFCON, and would’ve been unavailable for his country’s opening two group games at the World Cup.
Unsure of whether Ghana would qualify out of their group, the GFA, therefore, made a decision not to include the suspended midfielder in the World Cup squad.
Almost 16 years on, Nyantakyi, who was the FA president at the time, has revealed that negligence on the part of an FA official led to Laryea’s appeal being filed late.
“Somebody’s negligence at the time. I remember Alex Asante [Deputy General Secretary of the GFA] brought me the sanction [letter] in my room in the hotel at Port Said,” he explained.
“I was seated with OB Amoah [then Deputy Sports Minister], so I asked him to hand it to another official (name withheld) to handle.
“We moved on to concentrate on other things hoping that this thing would be done, and it was not done. By the time we all came back to look at it, it had not been done. Unfortunately, that’s how Laryea Kingston didn’t make it to the 2006 World Cup.”
Meanwhile, Laryea recently admitted that it still hurts that he never featured at the FIFA World Cup during his playing time, having also been dropped for the 2010 tournament in South Africa.
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