Former Bibiani Gold Stars striker, Abednego Tetteh, has decided to temporarily retire from football after repeatedly being overlooked by the Black Stars technical team despite being the top scorer in the 2022/2023 Ghana Premier League.
Tetteh expressed his disappointment with the situation, stating that he feels dejected and let down because he believes he is better than the players who have been selected ahead of him. In his own words, he said, “I won the Goal King award but I am very sad. It is the vision of any footballer to do well and earn praise for his hard work but in my case, it is not like that. I am very, very sad and I know many people are sad too. For a football nation like Ghana, the goal king of the league is consistently not given a national call-up but players that he overscored are invited to the national team.”
Despite winning the Goal King award as the league’s top scorer, Tetteh has not received a call-up to the national team. He voiced his frustration, especially considering that players he believes he has outperformed have been invited to the national team. He further added, “Even look at the GFA awards, all the top scorers of the various leagues won the best player of that league but in my case, I was not given the best player award despite being the top scorer of the league season. Have I offended anyone at the GFA? I really do not understand what is going on.”
Tetteh also expressed disappointment with the recent Ghana Football Awards, where he was not awarded the best player award despite being the league’s top scorer. He questioned the fairness of the selection process, pointing out that other top scorers in various leagues were awarded the best player accolade, but he was overlooked.
He revealed that he is not currently playing for any club and has decided to stay out of football for the time being due to his frustrating experiences. He stated, “Right now I am in the house, I am not playing for any club this season. I will not even play football again for now. It is better to stay in the house than do myself and not be rewarded.”
Tetteh specifically mentioned that during the July call-up, he was not included in the Black Stars squad even though he was leading the league in goals. Instead, Hafiz Konkoni of Bechem United was called up to replace an injured player. In his words, “They first called a different striker (Hafiz Wontah of Bechem United) and then for the second time another player that I scored more goals than is called (Jonathan Sowah). What have I done wrong to the GFA people?”
In the most recent call-ups in September, Medeama striker Jonathan Sowah, who scored 12 goals in 20 games, was invited to the Black Stars, despite trailing Abednego Tetteh by six goals in the league’s top scorer race.
