It’s been two years since Ghanaian goalkeeper Richard Kingson made an appearance for the Black Stars. Or any other team.
After being released from Blackpool after its one season in the English Premier League in 2010-11, Kingson was without a club team until July 2013, when he signed with Doxa Katokopias in the top flight of Cypriot soccer. The 35-year-old has started all four First Division matches for his new club this season.
That has led to a return to the national team, as Kingson is once again in the squad for Ghana before its two-legged playoff against Egypt in the last hurdle to 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification. His last international match was a 2-1 loss to South Korea on June 7, 2011, just after his release from Blackpool. Before that, Kingson was Ghana’s No. 1 in the 2006 and 2010 World Cup, as well as the 2008 and 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
However, it hasn’t all been rosy since Kingson found a new employer and earned another call-up. After the Ghana squad was named, former Ghana Football Association president Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe accused Kingson of lying about his age on multiple official documents.
“Don’t tell me Kingson is 35,” Nyaho-Tamakloe told Radio XYZ in Ghana (via Kickoff.com). “The man is definitely 40-years-plus.”
On Monday, the Confederation of African Football refuted Nyaho-Tamakloe’s claim outright in a press release on its website, which was picked up by the Ghana FA site.
“Indeed, there has been no such correspondence from CAF in that regard, and any such report lacks credibility and is totally false,” the statement reads. “Our record indicates that the date of birth of Richard Kingson is 13 June 1978, and that reflects in all our official documents.”
Ghana restricts media access to players
Based on Ghana’s announced schedule for the upcoming first leg against Egypt, only once will members of the media be able to interview players before the match. Despite daily training sessions and a friendly against a league side, players will only be available following a training session on Wednesday in Accra, Ghana.
Instead, a “media briefing at the end of the training session by a media officer” will be held on every other day.
