French Lique 1 and Lique 2 clubs have voted unanimously to block players from leaving over the international break, which effectively rules out four Ghanaian players from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against South Africa and Sao Tome.
The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) have announced players will not be allowed to travel outside the country amid concerns over Covid-19.
This means four regular Black Stars players – Nicholas Opoku (Amiens SC), Alexander Djiku (Strasbourg), John Boye (Metz) and Emmanuel Lomotey (Amiens SC) won’t be available for the African double-header this month.
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The decision has reportedly been made because footballers returning from international duty will be forced to quarantine as per national policy on COVID-19 rules.
As things stand, this means France-based Ghanaian players will not travel to meet up with their countries for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Ghana coach Charles Akonnor is expected to announce his final squad for the qualifiers against South Africa and Sao Tome.
The Ghanaian gaffer has been trimming the rough edges of a home-based stars in preparation for the final showdown.
Swansea City are reluctant to release Ghana captain Andre Ayew while Newcastle United are unwilling out-of-favour winger Christian Atsu.
However, Holland-based striker Kwesi Wriedt is making his return to the Ghana national team squad for the first time in three years.
The Black Stars will take on South Africa on March 25 at the Soccer City Stadium before hosting Sao Tome to conclude the qualifying campaign for Cameroon 2022.
