Former Italy Based Midfielder Rubbishes Juju Reports in Football, Says It’s Not Real

• Emmanuel Agyemang Badu has made a nuisance of the use of juju in football, arguing that such reports are premised on lies
• The 31-year-old midfielder believes per his almost two-decade experience in the sport such reports are misguided and has no iota of truth in them
• His denial of the use of black magic is a sharp contrast with accounts given by former Ghana internationals

Former Udinese and Black Stars midfield kingpin Emmanuel Agyemang Badu has swat claims of the use of black magic popularly called juju in football.

Badu's assertion about juju comes in the wake of rife reports about its use in the game with former Ghana U17 skipper Emmanuel Bentil alluding marine spirits stalled the careers of the victorious 1995 squad.

In an interview with Accra FM, the ex-Ghana international contends juju is not real but a psychological gimmick by players to give them a subtle edge ahead of games.

“Juju in football is not real, a lot of them are all psychological; if you’re not too advanced, you might believe there is some superstition in football,” Badu said as quoted by Classfmonline.

“I’ve played the Ghana premier league, I’ve played international football and we hear these things but from my experience, it’s not real, they are lies,” he added.

He advised: “If you don’t train hard and rely on superstition or juju, you’ll end up embarrassing yourself, so, I think working hard on the pitch, personal training and all is better than focusing your energy believing in juju, it’s all psychology."

Video of Tanzania club allegedly using juju in CAF Confed Cup surfaces on the internet

The second leg of the CAF Confederations Cup quarterfinal between Orlando Pirates and Simba SC was expected to produce drama, but the shenanigans began before that.

During the warm-ups, Simba players were seen huddled around the circle, dancing rhythmically. This wouldn't be out of the ordinary, but for a small plume of smoke rising out of this tight circle of players.

Video footage and photographs showed a nondescript object burning from the forest of players' legs. This immediately raised suspicions that muthi was being burnt by the visitors to provide divine fortune in what was to prove a difficult encounter for the hosts.

Ex-Ghana youth captain reveals how marine spirits ended the careers of footballers

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Emmanuel Bentil, captain of the victorious Black Starlets team in 1995, has made a shocking revelation of how several players from that team failed to reach their potential following their success in Ecuador.

The team that defeated Brazil in the final to win Ghana's second U17 World Cup had several top players including the darling boy Awudu Issaka, Baba Sule and Stephen Appiah.

In an interview with Lifestyle TV, Bentil opened up on how the team consulted marine spirits to aid them to win the cup.

Source: SportsBrief.com