Former Black Stars goalkeeper Richard ‘Olele’ Kingston has rendered an unqualified apology to his former teammate Junior Agogo for refusing to check on him since he got diagnosed with stroke. 

Agogo, who emerged poster boy of the Ghana squad during the 2008 AFCON on home soil, revealed in a BBC documentary 'Speechless' that he was no longer in touch with his former international teammates since he suffered the stroke two years ago. 

But in a quick response by one of his teammate, Richard Kingston says he never abandoned Agogo but lost contact with him.

According to Kingston, the former striker was always in his thoughts and prayers and urged him to fight on.

“Sometimes when you have friends from the beginning and they betray you like this it’s very painful so I understand him…” Richard Kingston stated

“I’ll like to apologise on behalf of some of the players who couldn’t reach out to Junior Agogo and his family that maybe we have neglected him at this point but all the same I believe that we are in spirit with him so we wish him speedy recovery”, he added

Background

Agogo, 38-year-old, suffered the stroke in January 2015, after ending his football career and now has Aphasia.

Junior Agogo,  is now being taken care of by his mother in London. 

Aphasia is an impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write. Aphasia is due to injury to the brain, especially from a stroke.

In some cases, it makes communications with the patient impossible. It is associated with difficulty to retrieve names of objects and inability to put together sentences.

Speaking for the first time after the stroke, Agogo in a BBC documentary published on Sunday, said the stroke left him lacking confidence, and he feels socially isolated.

Agogo played for Bristol Rovers between 2003 to 2006, before moving to Nottingham Forest.

Junior Agogo (real name Manuel Agogo), is a Ghanaian striker who made 140 appearances for the Rovers.

He joined from then Conference side Barnet, for a fee of £110,000 with Giuliano Grazioli moving to Underhill as part of the deal.

Agogo played a key role as the Black Stars clinched bronze at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations tournament. He made a total of 27 appearances for the senior national team.