Polley: E.T Mensah influenced player selection at Tunisia ‘94

Former Black Stars striker, Prince Opoku Polley, has stirred the hornet’s nest by alleging that his threat to leave Black Stars camp before the Tunisia 1994 Nations Cup was due to the influence in selection by former Sports Minister, E.T. Mensah.

Polley told Graphic Sports Online in an exclusive interview in Kumasi that after failing to make the first team for the opening match against Guinea on March 27, 1994, Coach Jim Amoah stormed his hotel room with a Bible in hand and confessed to him (Polley) that it was the Sports Minister who influenced the team selection for that particular match.

According to Polley, he was in top form at the time and had even acted as the skipper of the Black Stars in the absence of Abedi Pele and Tony Yeboah during the pre-tournament friendly matches.

“All the top players were agitated when the coach dropped me during the opening match against Guinea but I kept my cool and went into my hotel room which I shared with Tony Yeboah,” he revealed.

“it was at this time that Coach Amoah came in with a Bible in hand to apologise for dropping me from the first team, before confessing that the selection of players for the match was influenced by the Sports Minister, E.T. Mensah,” he recalled.

 “I am sorry that it happened this way. This was not the team I intended to use for our first match. It was this afternoon that the team I intended to use for the opening match was changed.

"It was E.T. Mensah and other officials from the Sports Ministry who influenced me to come out with this team, so I am appealing to you to look at this Bible and be calm as you sit on the bench because I will by all means make changes and bring you into the match,” Polley quoted Coach Amoah to have said during the interview

He said moments after the confession, Tony Yeboah told the coach in his face that if he (Coach Amoah) was influenced to select players who were not in his plans, then he fell short to be considered as a competent coach so there was no need for the team to continue training under him in Tunisia.

“It was at that stage that I told the coach that If the Sports Minister can use a few minutes to influence him in his team selection in a tournament as important as this, then I am vacating camp to return to Holland because my team need my services so much.
“I, therefore, asked him to release my passport to me to return to Holland the following day,” he added.

Polley said it was based on that hiccup that he refused to sit on the bench but joined the spectators to watch the match during their opening match which ended 1-0 in favour of the Black Stars.

 According to him the issue of influencing selection by officials in the Black Stars persisted during their time. This, he noted, created much agitation among players during tournaments.

 “Influencing the selection of players for tournaments was persistent in the Black Stars during our time. It was about leadership. If the one leading the team was considered powerful, he easily influenced coaches in the selection of players for some particular matches,” he disclosed further.