Thursday 3rd April , 2014 9:20 am
Former Black Stars striker Augustine Arhinful has said he has no issues with the presence of wives and girlfriends of the Black Stars’ players in Brazil during the World Cup 2014.
Arhinful explained that even though nothing official has been stated concerning the issue, the right regulatory measures could be employed to ensure that no negative consequences arise because having family around would help the players feel more relaxed during the tournament.
“Personally, I have no problem with the idea despite that the fact that nothing of that sort has been proposed.
Even if stated, we should find ways of making sure the right things are done. People are concerned about how sex could affect the players and I understand them but if we,say,put players and their partners in separate hotels, there should not be any issues.”
We need to understand that the World Cup is lengthy and so, having spouses around will help the players psychologically”, Arhinful said on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Wednesday.
Arhinful admitted the issue was quite new to the Ghanaian public, but hinted that past World Cup tournaments revealed how Ghanaian players had their spouses around even when it was not sanctioned.
He called for the authorities to embrace such new ideas because he held the firm belief the players would remain focused on the football throughout the tournament.
“Probably, we do not know a lot about this, but some European and South American countries have done so in the World Cup and some of these have done well in the tournament.
In 2006 and 2010, some of the players had their wives with them even when this was not official. But we now want to follow Nigeria’s lead and this has brought a lot of talk.
We should see that the world is changing and some of these things are part of the modern game. What I know is that the players are professionals and they will not allow the presence of their partners to distract them from competing very well.”
By: Nathan Quao/citifmonline.com/Ghana