Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan says claims that he killed his friend and Ghanaian rapper Castro as part of a ritual sacrifice are “wild and absurd”.
Afrobeats artist Castro, whose real name is Theophilus Tagoe, went missing, along with friend Janet Bandu, in July.
They disappeared while using jet skis on holiday with former Sunderland striker Gyan’s family in the Ghanaian coastal town of Ada.
Allegations in Ghana’s media suggested the disappearance was suspicious.
Castro and Bandu were last seen heading towards the ocean on a jet ski and were presumed drowned.
No bodies were recovered and rumours continued to circulate this month when Gyan’s brother, Baffour Gyan, was alleged to have been part of a gang which attacked a journalist who had asked the player about the rumours. The assault charges on Baffour Gyan have now been dropped.
The speculation prompted 28-year-old Gyan, who joined United Arab Emirates side Al-Ain in 2011, to hold a press conference.
His lawyer Kissi Agyabeng said the family had been “dismayed” and had remained silent until now as they did not want to interfere with police investigations.
The statement read:
“What sells in the media, and what indeed sold and is still selling in the media in Ghana are wild allegations and rumours directed especially at Asamoah Gyan – ranging from the absurd – of the imputation of criminality to him in the sense that he either murdered Castro or had him kidnapped – and ending with the ludicrous – that he sacrificed him spiritually to enhance his career.
“We have been silent while these wild allegations and rumours have been peddled in the media.
“We have been silent not because we are concealing anything or that we do not feel the need to fully state what, from our reckoning, had happened in Ada. We have been silent because we did not want to interfere with police investigations and recently the leveling of assault charges against Baffour Gyan and Samuel Anim Addo, sealed our mouths further.
“Now, we can come out openly because the police have stated their position and the assault charges against Baffour Gyan and Samuel Anim Addo have been dropped and they have been discharged. We will revisit this matter.
“In our painful silence, we have been totally dismayed by the fact that the platform was provided for the peddling of these wild and ludicrous allegations and rumours against us.
“Those to whom the platform was provided offered no evidence whatsoever to back their statements. And indeed, the allegation of spiritual sacrifice can by no stretch of the imagination be propped up.”