Kuffuor explained that he instead instructed Pantsil to 'stop talking' because he was a newcomer to the team.
In response to Paintsil's remark about Kuffuor being a bully during the 2002 African Cup of Nations, the former Hearts of Oak captain stated that the old players believed some of the new players leaked information to management.
"I watched an interview where John Paintsil said when he came(to the Black Stars) (I)Osei Kuffour wanted to bully him. It was not like I wanted to bully him but this is a national team, so stop talking. You were a new player and it wasn't like you were better than us. We the old players figured that they(management) used some of the new players to get information. If you do that somebody will attack you. Abedi and the likes did not bully as when I joined the Black Stars, the same way I did not bully anyone. But be careful about some things you do," he told Dan Kwaku Yeboah TV.
In an interview with Kasapa FM in 2020, John Paintsil revealed that during the tournament, he got into a fight with Emmanuel Osei Kuffour because the latter seemed to be on his neck all the time.
"I fought with one of my seniors during that tournament. Emmanuel Kuffuor the General is that player. He brought the fight. He was bullying and making life uncomfortable for me in camp. I know he will laugh over it now because we have moved on. He really made me feel bad in camp so one day I just couldn’t tolerate him any longer so I threw the punch, he replied and we fought”.
“The national team was rough at that time but I think we were rebuilding. There was no unity among the players because everyone felt he was a senior”, he told Kasapa FM.
Ghana was eliminated in the round of 16 after falling to Nigeria 1-0. They advanced to the knockout stage after finishing second in their group, which included South Africa, Morocco, and Burkina Faso.
Also, watch this week's episode of the GhanaWeb Sports Debate in the post below:
Emmanuel Osei Kuffuor and John Paintsil