Former Ghana international, Shilla Illiasu has cautioned against inappropriate change of Black Stars captaincy could bring about internal rift in the team.
On Thursday, February 27, reports emerged that Jordan Ayew is set to be named the new captain of the Black Stars ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Chad and Madagascar.
Thomas Partey has been in charge of the captain's armband, stepping in the shoes of Andre Ayew who has been out of the team for a couple of months now.
However, Iliasu - a former defender of the senior national team' the Black Stars holds the view that replacing Partey and handing over the reins of the captaincy to Jordan Ayew needs to be handled with care to prevent friction internally.
“For the old players, our fear and our worry is that if care is not taken, it will come to a time that the team will be divided into two because whether we like it or not, Partey has his own—I’m not going to say a camp or maybe his people; but the reality is that when you are in a national team, you have people that you always go to. So me, I don’t have any problem with the coach giving the captain’s armband to Jordan,” he told Citi Sports.
“But the question is, why now? Well, initially, it was Partey. Is it maybe because we didn’t qualify for the AFCON?
“But we should also remember it was the same Partey who captained Ghana in those two crucial games against Mali in Bamako and the Central African Republic in Kumasi.
“So what I can say is that we just have to be very careful. When you look at the game itself, you know, you can’t compare Jordan to Partey in terms of experience,” he added.
By: Pascal Amoah
