GFA Writes To Chelsea

The new twist has come in the wake of massive condemnation of the association's failure to secure the release of the ace Ghanaian midfielder for the Nations Cup, a situation which many believe worked against the Stars.

Investigations by the Graphic Sports have revealed that the Ghanaian football governing authority has written to Chelsea for formal explanation, why they refused to release the player under FIFA article 14.

Besides the letter, the FA is also demanding an authenticated medical report from Chelsea on Essien's post- injury condition which made the English Premiership side rule him out of competitive games for 28 days.

Sources have revealed that the medical report signed by one English attached to the terse message from Stamford Brigade to the FA weeks before the kick-off of the Nations Cup was not explanatory enough, a clue that has informed the decision to seek further clarification.

The decision was the fall-out of the inaugural meeting of the Executive Committee of the FA and it was hastened by the intense accusations that some members had been bribed by Chelsea to compromise on the release of the player to the Stars.

Indeed, certain names, according to sources, came up at the meeting as those who benefited materially from Chelsea in the scheme to deny Ghana the chance of using the services of Essien. However, an auxiliary move to drag Chelsea to FIFA floundered as members drew the attention to the fact that the player was not registered by Ghana for the tournament.

Inside sources told the Graphic Sports that the decision received some discord among certain members who wanted the player to be left alone especially after assuring the FA and the technical bench of his readiness to avail himself in future national assigments including friendlies. But the day was won by those who wanted the FA to bare its teeth at Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea should they nurture any plans to play pranks with the release of the Ghanaian player.

Meanwhile, following assurances by the player to return to the team, Coach Ratomir Dujkovic is expected to include him alongside Nation's Cup absentees like Sulley Muntari and Asamoah Djan in the Stars friendly against Mexico on March,1.