Black Stars midfielder, Andre Morgan Dede Ayew, has expressed reservation about the way the Ghana Football Association (GFA) handled his alleged misconduct in the recent Africa Nations Cup qualifier against Malawi in Lilongwe, despite rendering an unqualified apology to the technical team of the senior national team and his teammates just in time to avoid any sanctions. The timely apology from the Marseille play maker, arising out of a sporadic media bashing of the player in the past week, came exactly 24 hours before the FA’s ultimatum which ends today, but the son of the Maestro could still not hide his disappointment about the manner in which the GFA announced the decision on radio even before he received a letter to that effect. Last Thursday, President Kwesi Nyantakyi announced on an Accra-based radio station, Happy FM, that the GFA had given Dede up to today to render an apology to the technical team and the playing body of the Black Stars for the gross disrespect he showed after he was substituted during the game against the Flames of Malawi in Lilongwe on October 13. However, the FA’s letter signed by the acting General Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Gyimah, requesting an apology from Dede was dated October 18. In a letter of apology dated October 19, Dede said “I hereby render an unqualified apology to all Ghanaians, especially my fans whose prayers and well wishes have played an immense role and encouraged me to offer the very best of my services to the national teams of the Republic of Ghana anytime I am called upon to do so.” “I also do apologize to the technical team and the playing body who, I am alleged to have been disrespectful to, as well as the Black Stars Management Committee and Technical Team which were gravely unhappy over utterances and gestures I allegedly made when I was substituted,” he intimated. I must add that although the details of my alleged utterances and gestures have not been confirmed to me and I do not recall same, I have acceded to your request for an apology also for the reason that even if I take the view that my alleged conduct did not offend or was never intended to offend anybody, an apology is still desirable since I have been informed that the Black Stars Management Committee and Technical Team were gravely unhappy, and also that my alleged conduct was disrespectful of the technical team and the playing body,” he stressed. Dede Ayew is reported to have made some utterances and gestures after his substitution in the said match, while failing to shake hands with his teammates on the bench and the assistant coach Maxwell Konadu. The Black Stars Management Committee and the Technical committee were said to have met Dede at the Team’s hotel in Lilongwe after game to address the issue, followed by the FA’s request for a letter of apology from the player. However, the Stars’ influential midfielder noted with regret that he only got to know of the GFA’s decision, which he had appropriately responded to, through friends, relatives and fans who informed him that the letter requesting his apology had already been the subject of media reviews at least two days before he received it.