Veteran Ghanaian Coach Joseph Sarpong has opined that its not compulsory for Black Stars gaffer Charles Akonnor to call up local players to his squad for the next national assignments.

The Black Stars are set to face South Africa and Ethiopia as part of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Ghana will face Walia Antelopes of Ethiopia on September 1 before playing the Bafana Bafana of South Africa 4 days later.

It is expected the Black Stars head Coach Charles Kwabla Akonnor will name his squad for the 2 games on Friday. As the Ghanaian football space anticipates the squad announcement, discussions have been ongoing about the former national captain offering more opportunities for local players to feature in the squad.

However, Coach Sarpong has shot down such calls insisting, there is no written rule that compels CK Akonnor to select more local players just because the local league has seen some excitement and improvements.

“It’s not compulsory to include local players in national callups just because the local league is competitive and exciting,” he told Peace FM in an interview.

“It’s a plus our league has become exciting. It is true that some players played well (in the just ended season). But this is an international programme…it is not compulsory.

“He might have his focus elsewhere and I am not sure C. K. Akonnor will do changes in his next call-up to overhaul the team,” he added.

With the likely inclusion of local players in the squad, JE Sarpong says he won’t be surprised should more of the local component come form the title winning Hearts of Oak side.

“Normally the team that wins the league have players featuring in callups. So I won’t be surprised if some Hearts players get invited to the team,” he said.

Black Stars Charles Akonnor is expected to name his squad later on Friday during the live broadcast of the Ghana FA News programme. The show starts at 5:30pm GMT and will be broadcast live via the Ghana Football Association’s Facebook page.