CAF U-23 AFCON: Black Meteors to bolster squad with Black Stars players

The chairman of the Black Meteors management committee, Frederick Acheampong, has confirmed that they are in negotiation with the technical team of the Black Stars to release some key players to join the national under-23 side.

Ghana’s Olympic team has been drawn in Group A alongside host, Morocco, Congo and Guinea in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament scheduled to start on June 25 to July 8.

Acheampong acknowledged that the presence of some of the stars would be very crucial and help bolster their chances in the tournament that would see the finalist and winning semi-finalist teams qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

He told Graphic Sports in an interview last Friday that Kamaldeen Sulemana and Ernest Nuamah are among the players currently with the Black Stars who would be needed at the under-23 side and added that they intended to work and ensure the Black Meteors secured their services.

“We are negotiating with the players and the Black Stars technical team to see if most of them will be available. In any case, the Black Stars game is on the 18th so after that those who are available can join us”, he stated.

He emphasised that Kudus Mohammed would not be part of the players being considered for the under-23 assignment because he was not eligible due to his date of birth.

However, he indicated that Sulemana and Nuamah would be part of the team together with any other player(s) that the coach considers good enough.

“Kudus is not eligible because he was born in the year 2000 but there are other players in the Black Stars like Kamaldeen and Nuamah who would be needed in the Black Meteors”, he stated.

Acheampong also disclosed that the team was due to fly out of the country to Egypt by the end of the week to continue their preparation and they intended to play some friendly games to keep them in shape ahead of the start of the tournament.

“That is why we have chosen Egypt, that is where we hope to get some (friendly) matches because in June a lot of the leagues will be on break. We planned to go to a different country but because we may not get a lot of matches, we decided to camp in Egypt. We hope to play some of the countries that will be participating in the AFCON in Egypt”, he noted.