Odame cries out to Kotoko, GFA: I’m sick and poor
Poor health and joblessness have conspired to reduce former Asante Kotoko and Black Stars stalwart defender, Clifford Odame, to a pale shadow of himself.
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Odame, once regarded as the most ruthless defender for Kotoko between 1965 and 1975, is now battling with waist and body pains, making it difficult for him to walk steadily.
Almost bedridden for two years due to his poor health, Odame who together with Yaw Sam, Malik Jabir, Oliver Acquah, the late Robert Mensah, Abukari Gariba, Ben Kusi and Osumanu Olando among others, won the African Cup for Kumasi Asante Kotoko for the first time in 1971, now has to depend on friends and sympathizers for survival.
“ I am now 70 years , but with no source of income, so it has become very traumatic for me to seek for regular medical care to speed up my recovery” he told the Graphic Sports in an interview in Kumasi last Saturday.
“ I was diagnosed with a disease I cannot mention offhand, and some Specialists at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) decided to perform a surgery to correct it, but upon a second thought, they kicked against it, and rather put me on drugs, hoping that I will recover”, Odame explained .
“For the past two years, I have been panting for breath anytime I attempt to walk around, but it has not been easy to get money to buy drugs prescribed by my doctors to keep me healthy, “ Odame stressed.
He said Old players of Kumasi Asante Kotoko came to his aid about a year ago to bail him out with money to enable him access medical care, but was yet to receive any support at the national level.
Odame, who featured consistently for the Black Stars between 1970 and 1975, was among the players who qualified to play in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
He said players such as Power house, Kwasi Owusu ;Yaw Sam; John Eshun; Edward Boye; Essel Mensah and Malik Jabir among others, were his teammates during the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.
“Together with my teammates, we won the league for three consecutive years, and brought the African Cup trophy to Kumasi for the first time, so the Kotoko family should support me in cash and kind at this stage that I am battling with this disease.
“Because I do not have any source of income and the drugs prescribed are also expensive, I have to resort to herbal treatment at times, so I am pleading with the Ghana Football Association, the Sports Ministry, the entire Kotoko family and all sports fans to support me,” he pleaded.
“I served my club and country very well, but feel totally neglected at this stage in my life. It is my prayer that somebody will be touched to support me before it is too late” Odame bemoaned.