Former Ghana international Laryea Kingston has explained the difference in pronunciation and spelling of his surname from that of his brother Richard.
For many years, people have wondered how can siblings of the same father have a surname strikingly similar but spelt differently.
For years, this question has been on the minds of several Ghanaians who have been puzzled by the apparent difference in Laryea Kington and Richard Kingson’s surname despite the two having the same patriarch.
Laryea, the younger of the two has moved to settle the misunderstanding with a detailed explanation of how the mix-up happened.
He told Joy FM that the mishap was caused by the Ghana Football Association during the early days of Richard Kingson’s national team career.
He clarified that the correct pronunciation and mentioning of the name is Kingson.
“Actually the original name is the Kingson which my big brother is using. But the mistake came from my brother. Not him directly but it came through his times with the national u-20. They went to a tournament and they put Kingston at the back of his shirt through the mistake of the FA.
“When I joined the u-17 team, my first passport was done by the FA and they spelt it Kingston and that’s how it became my name. But with him, he went to play in Turkey and decided to naturalize and change his name. But our original name surname Adjei and we are from Teshie”.
Between 2002 and 2010, Laryea made 41 appearances for Ghana and scored six goals.