Ghana Refuses To Allow Kudus Play For West Ham Against Brighton

The Ghanaian Football Association has reportedly turned down West Ham United’s request to allow their midfielder, Mohammed Kudus, to report to camp late.

West Ham United reportedly want to hold on to Kudus until after their Premier League game against Brighton, which will kick off at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Kudus, who joined West Ham from Ajax, has been the club’s best player in recent games, which makes it more difficult for the club to allow him to leave for the 2023 AFCON.

Unfortunately, the world football governing body, FIFA, has mandated all clubs to release the players invited for the 2023 AFCON on or before January 1, 2024.

A club can only keep a player beyond the said date if the club and the country involved reach an agreement to permit the player to report to camp late.

If the club refuses to release an invited player for a FIFA-approved international tournament, FIFA will fine such a club heavily.

Hence, in the case of Ghana and West Ham, the West African side has the final say, and the final say is that Kudus is expected to report for the tournament today, January 2.

If Ghana had not turned down West Ham’s request, Kudus would have had to report to the national team camp on Thursday, January 4, which would have been a huge setback to the plans of the Black Stars, who intend to build the team around the prolific 23-year-old attacking midfielder.

Since he joined the Premier League club last summer, the attacking midfielder has scored nine goals in 24 appearances in all competitions.

Ghana will begin their 2023 AFCON campaign in Group B against Cape Verde on January 14. On January 18, they will take on the most successful country in the tournament, Egypt. Their last group stage game is against Mozambique on January 22.