Ghana defender Abdul Baba Rahman has voiced his frustration after missing the opportunity to play at the Fifa World Cup for the first time.

The Black Stars failed to clinch a third successive qualification after finishing behind Egypt and Uganda in the qualifiers.

The 23-year-old, of German side Schalke, believes the long-standing rift between Ghana Football Association and the Ministry of Youth and Sports under former minister Nii Lante Vanderpuye affected the Black Stars' qualifying campaign.

“It is disheartening that Ghana could not make it to the World Cup in Russia. I think the then impasse between Ghana FA and the Youth and Sports ministry really affected us [that's why we couldn't qualify],” Baba told footballmadeinghana.com.

“Sometimes, moral in camp was very low especially before our first game against Uganda in Tamale. As a footballer, you need to be in a good frame of mind ahead of such games, so when there is uneasiness between the two parties backing us, definitely the entire players are the one who will suffer,” he added.

Rahman made his national team bow in 2014 and was part of the squad that participated in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.