Tuesday, 10 December

Black Stars' recent performance, social media attacks triggered Kudus’ ‘violent conduct’, 5-game ban, £60k fine

Sports News
Sebastian Frej, MB Media, Getty Images (Pic): West Ham winger Mohammed Kudus

Mohammed Kudus, 24, has opened up about his recent misconduct during the West Ham v Tottenham match. 

Kudus scored the only goal for his West Ham side, and in the 82nd minute of the match that ended 4:1, he attacked two Tottenham players: Micky van de Ven and Pape Matar Sarr. 

He eventually was shown a red card missing out on three games as penalty. The English Football Assocation has also handed him a two-game ban, bringing the total to five. 

He has also been fined he has been fined 60,000 pounds ($77,286).

An independent regulatory commission has published the written reasons for Kudus' conduct, noting the "deeply embarrased" Ghana international told them he had been "mentally" troubled by social media attacks in reaction to the Ghana Black Stars' abysmal performance during a recent set of 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers. 

Read: Kudus Mohammed: Black Stars captain assures Ghana of ‘redeeming ourselves in the upcoming matches’

While he accepted his conduct was unacceptable, and he had indeed pushed Pape Sarr in the face, he asserted Micky van de Ven had exaggerated their confrontation. 

Read the entire statement below:

"MK [Mohamed Kudus] began his letter by apologising, stating that he was deeply embarrassed by his behaviour in the 20 seconds following his foul on Micky van de Ven.

"He accepted that he had lost his cool and said that his behaviour was out of character.

"He stated that he could not recall the events clearly, but having viewed the footage, he felt that MvdV [Micky van de Ven] had exaggerated the incident as there was minimal contact from him...He accepted that he should not have pushed PS [Pape Sarr] in the face and that his action merited a red card. However, he did not injure anyone, or use force.

"MK [Mohamed Kudus] stated that his preparation for the match had been mentally and physically challenging because he had travelled for a midweek international fixture and had received various negative comments on social media. He referred to his work within the community and in his home country of Ghana, stressing how he tried to be a role model."

Source: classfmonline.com/Prince Benjamin