Former Ghana international Samuel Osei Kuffour has described as indefensible and ungrounded the changes ex-Black Stars Coach James Kwasi Appiah made to the captaincy prior to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

Appiah removed Asamoah Gyan as Black Stars captain, replacing him with Andre Ayew. Gyan subsequently scoffed at the idea and rejected his new role as General Captain.

It took the intervention of Ghana President Nana Akuffo Addo before Gyan was convinced to rescind his decision to retire from the national team because of this arrangement.

Sammy Kuffour was then a member of the Normalisation Committee (the body running Ghana Football at the time) and says all this brouhaha could have been prevented if Kwasi Appiah had been a bit tactful in his approach.

“Kwasi Appiah in my view should have probably had a second thought about the whole issue before making that decision [changing captains]” Kuffour told Joy FM in an interview.

“I think he [Asamoah Gyan] shouldn’t have said he wanted to retire. He should have calmed down. When you say those things, people may take it for granted.”

“I would just leave it as it is [If I were Kwesi Appiah]. Asamoah Gyan is the captain. If he doesn’t play, Andre is the captain. Andre is like the second captain. He will wear the armband.”

“That will seal the case. For bringing Andre in and Asamoah out with the atmosphere and all that. They can laugh but within their hearts, how well would [they collaborate]?” the ex Bayern defender concluded.

Ghana suffered a painful exit in the knockout stage at the competition at the hands of Tunisia leaving the country’s chase for the AFCON trophy since 1982 ongoing.

Many believe Appianh’s handling of the matter was a contributory factor to the failed campaign to annex the cup.