Tuesday, 22 January, 2002, 12:52 GMT
Kuffour sacked by Ghana
Ghana and Bayern Munich's Sammy Kuffour
Bayern did not want Kuffour to leave in the first place
Ghana coach Fred Osam-Duodu has sent controversial defender Sammy Kuffour home for "breaking the rules of the camp".

In an exclusive interview with BBC Sport's Ben Malor, Osam-Duodu said that Kuffour had been behaving in an "unruly" way towards officials in the Ghana camp, and had disrupted training.


Since the training talk we have never seen anything like that
Ghana coach Fred Osam-Duodu
Kuffour, who is the BBC African Player of the Year, was told of the news at half past midnight Monday evening.

He was then driven 300km by a Ghana official from Segou to Mali's main airport in Bamako.

From there he will fly back to Ghana.

Osam-Duodu said: "it was better for us to send him back so that the boys may have their peace."

Ghana's training session on Sunday was surprisingly called off without a reason being given.

But Osam-Doudu hinted that Kuffour was the major factor behind the sudden cancellation.

"Since the training talk I have never seen anything like that," he said.

Kuffour was one of Ghana's best players in their opening match against Morocco on Monday.

The decision is bound to affect the morale of the Black Stars team, but the coach is confident that he has uprooted the root cause of their problems of indiscipline.

Third dismissal

He told the BBC that he was sure the rest of the team could now work together in a more harmonious way.

His presence in the Ghana back four helped them to a 0-0 draw.

Kuffour is the third player to be sent back home from the Nations Cup, following Egypt's Ibrahim Said and Morocco's Abdesslam Ouaddou.

But the Bayern Munich defender is by far the most high-profile.



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