Ghana’s captain Andre Ayew’s uncle, Solar Ayew, has stated that stripping the forward of his leadership role will make it difficult for the Black Stars to defeat Nigeria in March’s 2022 World Cup play-offs.
The Black Stars and the Super Eagles were drawn together at a ceremony in Yaounde, Cameroon last week, to fight for a spot at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The perennial rivals will meet in a two-legged affair in March, with the first encounter taking place in Ghana before the second leg in Nigeria.
Ayew’s leadership qualities came under heavy criticism following Ghana’s groupo stage exit from the ongoing AFCON in Cameroon, where they won none of the three games they played, and suffering a shock 3-2 defeat to minnows Comoros.
The 32-year-old featured in all three games and scored against Comoros in their final group game but was sent off in the 24th minute.
Despite the criticism, Andre’s uncle Solar said nobody, except Ghana President Akufo Addo, could strip Ayew of the Black Stars captaincy.
“It’s a pride and honour to captain your national team, and per the performance and leadership qualities of Dede (Andre) Ayew, it will take only the President of the land, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwah to stripe off the captaincy from Dede Ayew,” Solar told Kumasi-based Light FM.
“His absence will make it difficult for Ghana to beat Nigeria,” he added.
