Ghana coach Avram Grant and football officials will take stern action against Leicester City after the Africa Cup of Nations for the 'deceit' in the 'miraculous' return from injury of Jeff Schlupp when the English side had said he won't be fit to play for the Black Stars in Equatorial Guinea.
Leicester City's claims over the strange injury of Schlupp before the tournament led to his exclusion from the Ghana squad final squad for the tournament in Equatorial Guinea yet he played for the club on Saturday even before the Black Stars play their first game in Africa's flagship tournament on Monday against Senegal.
This has sparked the fury of the former Chelsea coach and Ghana FA officials that they were deceived by Leicester City who refused to release the player to travel to Spain for claiming he could not travel because of the injury, insiders have told Ghana's leading football news website, GHANAsoccernet.com.
Keen not to let the issue overshadow Monday's opening Group C match against Senegal, officials are not publicly commenting on the issue but have resolved to address Leicester City over Schlupp's mysterious return from injury when the tournament ends.
However, sources close to the coach Grant say possible FIFA action has not been ruled out while other options to bring the English side to order over the painful issue for Ghanaians will also be considered.
Leicester City coach Nigel Pearson was reluctant to release the utility player to be examined by the Ghana doctors during their training camp in Spain and the Ghanaians were rushed into trying to find a third party doctor in the UK to examine Schlupp which resulted in his exclusion.
The claim by Leicester City that Schlupp that the player won't be fit was the key reason why Ghana excluded the player from its final 23-man squad yet the English side played him in a dramatic turn of events signifying a quicker-than-expected return from injury arousing suspicions.
Black Stars coach Avram Grant is said to be considering reporting the Foxes to FIFA for tricking them into believing that the flanker might not be fit for the tournament yet he played a match for Leicester before Ghana take to the field in at the AFCON.
According to Leicester City, Schlupp picked up a knee injury towards the end of the draw at Liverpool on New Year’s Day even though he was not substituted in the match which led to suspicions about the motives of the English side with many believing they were not keen on releasing their key player for Ghana.
According scans by Leicester City, the player’s joint was inflamed and he had strained ligaments, which led to the English side's refusal to release Schlupp to meet up with Ghana medical officials for independent examination.
Leicester claim they supplied the results of a scan and their own report, while Schlupp underwent an independent examination in London for the Ghana Federation even though the player did not turn up in the Black Stars camp in Spain to be examined by the Ghana doctors.
Ghana federation are not taking the report lightly and as they suspect foul play as they were rushed into taking a third party with the club's refusal to release the player to the Ghana camp for a proper independent examination.
European clubs are reluctant on releasing their players to play in the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal recently battling some English clubs over the release of some of their players.
Ghana were caught in a similar battle with Chelsea over Michael Essien who was excluded from Black Stars squad at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations yet he played for the Blues just when the tournament started in Egypt.
Do you think Leicester City tricked Ghana into excluding Schlupp? Do you think the player was involved in the conspiracy? Do you think Ghana have got a case? Do you think his bench role for Ghana also contributed to this? Make your views known in the box below