Osei Kofi: We weren’t even given bicycles after winning AFCON

Ghana legend Rev. Osei Kofi believes Black Stars players of the current generation have been rewarded more than those who actually won the country’s four AFCON titles.

The Black Stars were African champions in 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982, but have failed to win any major piece of silverware in the last four decades.

Osei Kofi was a key part of the Ghana squad that won back-to-back AFCON titles in 1963 and 1965 and is regarded as one of the country’s greatest-ever players.

The 82-year-old is, however, of the view that the state hasn’t treated its past heroes well despite their gallant achievements.

Osei Kofi fumes over failure to fulfil promises made to past AFCON winners

Citing Ghana’s 2015 AFCON squad who were each rewarded with a Jeep Grand Cherokee for finishing second in the tournament, Osei Kofi said none of the past players who won trophies for the country were given even a bicycle.

He further explained that the AFCON-winning team he was part of was promised houses by then-president Ignatius Kuti Acheampong but the pledge wasn’t fulfilled after he was overthrown from office.

"In all the four AFCONs we secured, no one received even a bicycle, yet the recent team that placed second in Equatorial Guinea were presented with Cherokee cars. Back in 1965, when we captured the cup and returned, a grand banquet was held," Osei Kofi told Joy Sports, as quoted by Ghanaweb.

"Acheampong summoned me and Sempah Asante to convey to the Black Stars players that if they secured the cup to honour Ghana and him as the Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, at that time the Dansoman Estates were under construction, they would each receive a house, and indeed, they triumphed,"

"Akuffo succeeded Acheampong and declared he had made no such promise. Do you perceive the misfortune? When a head of state commits, and the head is no longer present, does the state cease to exist as well?"

Osei Kofi is one of several legends from the past who remain bitter about the treatment meted out to them despite their services to the nation.