The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has alleged that former Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan deliberately missed Ghana’s penalty against Uruguay at the 2010 World Cup.
Dafeamekpor, in a Radio XYZ interview, alleged that Asamoah Gyan has been a lifelong supporter of the New Patriotic Party and allowed his political bias to influence him during his active days as a footballer.
“I am of the opinion that Asamoah Gyan intentionally threw away that penalty because it was under NDC. It’s today that I’ve come to the realization that he threw away the penalty in the 2010 World Cup and the African Cup because the glory would have come to the NDC.
“Asamoah Gyan is now part of the Bawumia campaign team. There is everything wrong with that because when you are a national figure and you become partisan I can reasonably say that it’s because of politics you threw that penalty away so that the NDC government will not get the glory. I am telling you that I feel the pain,” he said.
In a quarter-final match against Uruguay in the 2010 World Cup, Asamoah Gyan failed to convert a penalty that could have elevated Ghana to the status of the first African country to make the semi-final of the World Cup, but Dafeamekpor claims that Gyan’s miscued penalty was politically-influenced.
Dafeamekpor decried Gyan’s decision to accept an appointment to be part of the manifesto committee for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s candidate for the 2024 elections.
Per Dafeamekpor’s assertions, Asamoah Gyan should not have accepted the role as he is a national figure whose popularity and admiration cut across the two major political parties.