Former GFA President, Kwesi Nyantakyi has revealed that Laryea Kingston missed the 2006 World Cup because an appeal on his suspension was filed out of time.
Laryea was a key member of the Black Stars squad during the qualifiers but missed the main tournament as the team reached the knockout stages. He received a red card in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations game against Senegal which meant he was to miss three games.
He served suspension for one game and was set to miss two opening World Cup games but an appeal from the FA could have changed that.
“Ghana appealed [Laryea Kingston’s suspension], but the truth of the matter is that the appeal was filed out of time,” Nyantakyi told Joy Sports Muftawu Nabila Abdulai.
“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,” he said three times.
“Somebody’s negligence at the time,” he explained. “I remember Alex Asante [Deputy General Secretary of the GFA] brought me the sanction [letter] in my room in the hotel at Port Said.
“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,” he stated.
“It was a very painful experience for us,” the former 1st Vice President of CAF described.
“The time for filing an appeal had elapsed and when the time for filing an appeal elapses there’s no other way you can even be heard unless you go for an extension of time within which to file the appeal but in football, we don’t do an extension of time to file an appeal.”
“Nevertheless,” he says “we went to the World Cup, lost the first game to Italy but won the two subsequent games [against the Czech Republic and the USA] to qualify to the second round.
“Unfortunately, we met almighty Brazil and they whipped us 3-0, but having been to the World Cup for the first time, we thought that the team did well,” he opined.
Ghana will participate in Group H of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar where they will face Uruguay, South Korea and Portugal.
