We lost trust in officials - Essien

Ghana’s midfield powerhouse, Michael Essien, says players of the Black Stars lost trust in the team’s leadership because the lies they were told about the Brazil 2014 World Cup appearance fee were too many and unbearable.

Speaking via Skype last Monday to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry, the AC Milan star who spoke in the presence of his lawyer and some members of his family, explained that apart from issues relating to the appearance fee, frequent unfulfilled promises by officialdom was the main cause of the players’ agitation in Brazil.

He revealed that there were too many meetings in connection with the appearance fee which shifted the players’ focus from the tournament because of the lies by the team’s officials. 

According to the media officer of the commission, Thomas Boakye Agyemang, who witnessed the player’s in-camera evidence, Essien claimed that the lies began when the players became alarmed, following difficulties they had when withdrawing money loaded onto MasterCards, following which they started inquiring about the money.

During the rescheduled evidence which lasted 72 minutes, the AC Milan midfielder also complained about the presence of too many people around the team which made it difficult for the players to have their privacy and also concentrate on the assignment.  

The Commission’s spokesperson said Essien denied the allegation that he refused to join the Stars’ warm-up before the game against Portugal, explaining that it was not compulsory for reserve players to warm-up prior to matches.

According to Essien, unlike first team players, those on the bench do their warm-up during substitution and was, therefore, surprised to hear allegations about his purported refusal to participate in the warm-up, especially as no team official questioned him on that issue.

The former Chelsea and Real Madrid player also debunked the assertion that former Stars coach, Kwasi Appiah, lost control over the dressing room, insisting that the former national captain was in charge of the team as always and also enjoyed the support of the players.

On the issue of disloyalty, Essien wondered why on earth he could be disloyal to a coach who convinced him to return to the senior national team after a two-year hiatus.

He maintained that there was no way he and his teammates, could turn their back on the team on that occasion.