Former Black Stars striker, Prince Tagoe has alleged a background story to the strange substitution of winger Joseph Paintsil in Ghana’s game against Mozambique in the final Group B match of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Paintsil who was one of Ghana’s bright spots in the first half and responsible for the penalty that shot Ghana into the lead, was strangely subbed by Chris Hughton and replaced with skipper Andre Ayew.

The substitution was alongside that of Majeed Ashimeru seen as the turning point in Ghana’s game as the Black Stars of Ghana lost control of the match afterwards.

Reacting to Ghana’s exit from the tournament, Prince Tagoe noted that the substitution was done because of the supposedly frosty relationship between the owner of Tema Youth, Osei Kwaku Palmer and the President of the Ghana Football Association, Kurt Okraku.

“There are people who decide to make certain players feel uncomfortable because of issues they have issues with other management members. An example I can clearly make is the substitution of Joseph Paintsil. Apart from the penalty incident, he also made some good runs. Which coach in his right sense will take him off at half-time?

“It doesn’t make sense. If Kurt has a problem with Palmer, he should sort it out with him and leave the player alone. Some things are just nasty. These things happen in the national teams where they make certain players uncomfortable. Which kind of coach would have benched him? The player was about doing more for the Black Stars, then we take him off,” he said on Angel TV.

The Black Stars left the tournament, winning none, drawing two and losing one of their three games played in Group B.

A 2-1 defeat to Cape Verde in the opening game was followed by 2-2 draws with Egypt and Mozambique in the second and final group matches respectively.

With just two points and a goal deficit, the Black Stars recorded successive group-stage exits from the AFCON, having suffered the same fate in the 2021 edition.

As a result of the disastrous performance in Ivory Coast, Chris Hughton has been sacked by the Ghana Football Association.

Watch GhanaWeb's review of Ghana's AFCON performance below