Former Black Stars coach, James Kwasi Appiah, has recounted the touching story of how former President John Agyekum Kufuor became his adopted father.

Kwasi Appiah, during a courtesy call on the former president at his residence in Aburi, on February 13, 2024, detailed the closeness of their relationship which traces its roots to their days at Asante Kotoko where he was a footballer and Kufuor was board chair.

The former Asante Kotoko fullback detailed that his 'father-and-son' relationship with Kufuor commenced after his father passed on ahead of one of their CAF inter-club matches in Algeria.

Due to the importance of the match and the crucial role of Kwasi Appiah in the team, Kufuor opted against sharing the information with him as he believed it would have distracted him.

Kwasi Appiah went into the game ignorant of happenings back home and helped Asante Kotoko pull an impressive away victory over the Algerian team they faced.

Kufuor, as recounted by Kwasi Appiah was determined not to ruin the moment and therefore decided to keep the information and allow Kwasi Appiah enjoy the moment until the team returned to Ghana.

After arriving in Ghana, Kufuor, in the view of Kwasi Appiah picked the perfect time and place to pass on the information to him that his father had died.

“We went to Algeria to play a game and my father died but His Excellency didn’t tell me my father was dead. He allowed me to use all my strength on the pitch and when we came back from the airport we went to where my father lived and that is when he told me,” Kwasi Appiah said at the event.

The former Black Stars coach explained that it was after the death of his father that he bonded more with Kufuor because he treated him like his biological son.

He remarked that it was more like “my father left me in his hands and since then he has treated me like a son.”

JNA/EK