Ghana drops Dede Ayew

After failing to join the team’s camp in Abu Dhabi in due time, Ghanaian and Olympique Marseille midfielder Andre “Dede” Ayew has been dropped from the squad as confirmed by Coach Kwesi Appiah on Ghana’s FA official website.

“Following Andre’s inability to join the Black Stars squad by Monday morning for Ghana’s team doctors to assess the extent of his injury and fitness for the tournament, I have decided to work only with the players currently in camp.”, said Appiah’s statement on Ghanafa.org.

Ayew had a hamstring injury in training with his French team and despite having been officially released by Marseille and the Ghana FA sending him air tickets, he still failed to beat the deadline, instead saying that he would arrive on Wednesday, a date by which all teams should have sent their squads to CAF.

“As Andre plans to arrive on Tuesday it means he would be unable to join any of my six training sessions before CAF’s Wednesday deadline for the submission of the final squad. In line with my vision of taking only fit players for the Africa Cup of Nations, I have decided that to work only with the players currently in camp.” Appiah said in the statement.

Ghana are pooled in Group B alongside Mali, Niger and DR Congo. They will open their tournament against DR Congo on 20th of January at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium