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A Ghanaian player’s obsession with black magic (juju) cost him a career at an Italian club, former Sports Minister, Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye has alleged.
According to him, the said player developed a habit of leaving the dressing room for game late.
His unusual and strange pre-match ritual raised suspicions in the dressing room and club’s managers had to review CCTV cameras to unravel the cause of his delay in leaving dressing room.
It was found out that the Ghanaian player always smeared himself with a substance which he believed made him perform during games.
“There was a situation a player has been sacked from Italy because he was dabbling in those things. And anytime they go to the dressing room, he will be the last one to come out because when all of them are going out, he had to put certain things on his body before he gets out. But there were cameras there and they caught him.
“So now they tried to find out from him what these things were. There was another case in Belgium when a talisman fell from a player (goalkeeper) so he was trying to pick it up and a goal was scored.”
Shedding light on the psychological effect of the notion of juju on players, Nii Lante Vanderpuye cited another example where a Ghanaian player failed to perform in France because he could not he was granted access to his juju things.
“The thing is so endemic. I have had a situation where a player who was sent out to France, a wonderful player, but because he was not allowed to do those things, his football career ended. Because he had believed so much in those things that he thinks without them there is no way he can play.”
The former Sports Minister believes time has arrived for Ghana football to take a decisive step on juju and prevent its effect on footballers.
He shared his experience as a colts footballer to buttress the point that juju has no positive impact on footballers.
“I have had experiences before. I have slept in a cemetery before. I have bathed water that has been used on dead bodies before. I have eaten certain things, swallowed certain things before.”
“The worse part of it is that one day we were given stones to put in our boots. By 15 minutes into the game, we got blisters and sore so we could not even wear the boots anymore. Your toes are swollen so the ball comes to you and you can’t even kick it. And they say that, it is going to win you the match.”
