No selection, no tracksuit: The story of how Ghana badly treated Otto Addo in 1998

Black Stars coach Otto Addo was mistreated by the Ghana Football Association when he was first invited into the Black Stars as a player, Gerald Asamoah, a former German international has alleged.

Gerald Asamoah said that in 1998, he and Otto Addo were handed their maiden call-up into the Black Stars and the reception they had is one that left them angry.

Gerald Asamoah claimed that the treatment handed them by the Ghana Football Association left a sour taste in their mouths and he vowed never to play for Ghana against.

“Otto Addo and I had Black Stars invitation in 1998 when we were at Hanover 96. During that time Germany wanted me to play for their under-21 but I wanted to play for Ghana so I came.

“When we came, the training was good and I was thinking even if I don’t get the chance to play, I will be in the first 18. It was my first time coming to Ghana in a long while. I left Ghana when I was 12 and came back when I was 19.

“When I came things were a little different but I was happy to come back home. In Germany, a day before a match, we get to know who and who will be playing but here it wasn’t like that, so we went to Charles Akunnor and asked ‘Charles what’s happening? Who is playing?’ and he responded that ‘I don’t know but I have been given tracksuits. The coach will tell me who will play so I share the tracksuit with them.’

“So Otto and I said okay and returned to our room. When we came again, they were all in a tracksuit and no one told us anything. When we asked they said we are not part of the (matchday) squad so we were told to put on any attire and follow them.”

“Then after the match, they all left without saying anything leaving Otto and me. Lucky for me, my mum was in Ghana so I called her and told her ‘mum I’m at the stadium can you come and pick me up?’ So I went home and spent two to three days in Ghana before I went back,” Gerald Asamoah said.

Gerald Asamoah said that Ghana made further moves on him but he had already resolved not to play for Ghana after the treatment he suffered.

“So I got invited again when I went back and I said ‘sorry I can’t come’. Honestly, they fought for me. The coach, Dossena came and spoke to me but I told him I needed time to make a decision.

“I took a two-year break and within that period Germany wanted me and I told them I would only play for the senior team and not the under-21. So after having a good season, Rudi Voller called me and invited me, which I accepted…I felt I was not needed in Ghana when I came. They knew Germay wanted me but when I came here(Ghana) they did not make me feel they really wanted me. But the Germans did, that is why I decided to play for Germany.”

Unlike Boateng who played for Germany, Otto Addo kept faith with Ghana and played for the Black Stars.

From 1999 to 2006, Otto Addo played 15 times for Ghana and scored two goals.