Some players of the national team at the Aquinas park
An aggrieved section of players of the Ghana Rugby Union Players Association (GRUPA) has petitioned the Rugby Association Board for the removal of the Association president, Herbert Mensah, from office.
The aggrieved party has cited dormancy of the league, the president’s dictatorial style of ruling, among other things as reasons for his removal.
But in a sharp contrast to the petition, another section of the union has poured cold water on the claims of their colleagues.
To them, the petition put together by Abdul-Nasir Meizongo, secretary, GRUPA and Ako Wilson, president, GRUPA was a calculated attempt to discredit the association’s president for their parochial interest.
The leadership of the players have as a result told the Rugby fraternity to treat the petition with the contempt it deserves.
Team manager of the national team Salisu Abdul Rahman said in a post training interview yesterday that, “We have no idea of any petition, we the playing body, l mean those of us who train at the Aquinas Park have no idea about the petition. We want Herbert to continue to stay in office. In fact he has changed the narrative of the sport.
“As far as l and some of the players know, a cross section of the players, majority of them from the Central Region are behind this machinations.
“They claim our president is the reason the league is on recess, but I beg to differ, you know rugby is a contact sport, so the president thought it prudent to shelve it because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which l think was the best of decisions.
“So the allegation that the president doesn’t want us to play the league is neither here nor there. We train everyday to keep fit.”
He added, “I have been in the national team for a long time, and I can state that since Mr. Mensah assumed office, the difference between his administration and his predecessors is like darkness and light, he has really done so much for us – from kit, organisation, motivation and all that make a team successful, he has been very effective and efficient.”
By Kofi Owusu Aduonum