There has been yet more drama with Rangers midfielder Mohamed Diomande after he changed his mind on Ghana’s surprise call up, electing not to join up with their camp after all.
This article here will explain the majority of it, so we won’t repeat ourselves, but the short version is he’s capped at U21 level with the nation of his birth, Ivory Coast, and was expected to step up to the seniors.
Only for Ghana, the country where he developed as a player and has citizenship, to call him up.
And we had reported that this was apparently his choice, and we compared it to Rory McIlroy choosing Ireland over Great Britain in Olympics due to where he learned his sporting trade.
But it seems Diomande has in fact less rejected Ghana, and has more plunged himself into a massive emotional decision, of choosing between Ivory Coast and Ghana.
He said:
“As a child passionate about football, my dream was to become a professional footballer and to defend the colours of my country wherever I go and play with the national team. Today I am really grateful with ALLAH for having achieved part of this dream; that of becoming a professional footballer, it remains the other part; that of joining the national team and also of making my parents proud. In addition, I am equally aware of the interest in my host country Ghana, where I have spent more than 7 years of my life and training as a footballer. However, a lot has been said, but I am in direct contact with the manager concerned by my decision, and it is he who holds the real information about my choice. I would like to thank my club Rangers FC for their support, my family and also all my fans during this period.”
In short, he’s going to go with Ivory Coast.
Simple terms, he is eligible for both nations but his heart is with Ivory Coast, and while Ghana’s interest is flattering him, the likelihood of him answering their call is… non-existent.
He is waiting for Ivory Coast’s manager Emerse Faé to call him up and that will be that.
As yet, he remains a youth international and clearly doesn’t want to join Ghana as a national player.
He owes Ghana a lot, but not his choice of nation in football, and he’s spoken to their manager Otto Addo about this.
If he wanted to play for Ghana, he’d have accepted the call.