Andre “Dede” Ayew has broken his silence on the sacking of former Black Stars head coach Otto Addo, telling John Obi Mikel on The Obi One Podcast that the decision to part ways with the German-trained tactician was one that “should have happened long before” it eventually did.
Speaking during a podcast taping in Accra, the former Black Stars captain said he held no personal grievance with Addo despite being frozen out of the national team for long stretches of the coach’s second spell in charge. Ayew noted that he had played under Addo and credited him with steering Ghana to qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
But he argued that a poor run of results including the friendly defeats to Austria and Germany that preceded the GFA’s decision had made the coach’s position untenable.
“When you’re gone and you don’t call back, then I’m gone you can’t call me instead,” Ayew said, framing his own long absence from the squad as part of a broader pattern in how Addo managed personnel.
He added that he did not believe his own exclusion was “the main issue” behind the coach’s downfall, praising the players who fought through a difficult World Cup qualifying campaign under Addo despite the turbulence around the team.
The conversation turned to Ayew’s own Black Stars career, which ended as the most decorated Black Stars player in history by appearances but without the AFCON title he chased for nearly two decades.
Ayew holds the record for the most Africa Cup of Nations appearances of any player, having featured in eight editions of the tournament for a total of 36 matches, a mark he shares with Cameroon’s Rigobert Song.
He is also Ghana’s all-time most-capped international, with well over 100 appearances for the Black Stars since his 2007 debut, and reached two AFCON finals, in 2010 and 2015, without winning either.
Ayew told Mikel that his motivation to stay involved with the national team even after Ghana’s failure to qualify for the 2025 AFCON in Morocco was tied to that unfinished business, the chance to add to his appearance record and, more importantly, to finally deliver a trophy for the country.
He said the realisation that Ghana would not be at that tournament changed his outlook, and that he continued weighing his international future for several months afterward before deciding to step away, pointing to business interests he has built outside football in Ghana as part of that transition.
I felt we were good enough. There was a record to make for Ghana, and for myself.” Dede Ayew, on his mindset heading into what would be his final AFCON cycle
Ayew, who left Dutch side NAC Breda as a free agent at the end of the 2025/26 season, used the podcast to reflect on what comes next.
He has kept a visible presence around Ghana football in recent months, including a visit to the Black Queens’ camp during their boycott dispute ahead of a 2026 WAFCON qualifier, where he urged the players not to let off-field disputes undermine the team’s progress.
Mikel Obi, speaking to reporters in Accra ahead of the recording, suggested that Ayew could be the figure to drive meaningful change in Ghana football administration, remarks that come amid growing speculation linking Ayew to a possible bid for the Ghana Football Association presidency.