John Paintsil

Legal representatives of John Paintsil have hit out at the Ghana Police spokesman who claimed the Black Stars defender stabbed his wife during a heated argument three days ago. 

Greater Accra Police Public Relations Officer DSP Freeman Tetteh told the media that the Israel-based defender stabbed his wife following a domestic quarrel claiming it left the wife be unconscious.

But moments after DSP Tetteh spoke to the media, Pantsil’s wife Richlove phoned into a radio station insisting she was not stabbed and was conscious contrary to the claims of the police officer.

Despite admitting that there was an incident Ebenezer Aidoo, spokesperson for the defender, says the statements by DSP Tetteh to the media was wrong.

“The police spokesman did a lot of disservice to the Pantsil family over the way he reported the matter to the media. He spoke to the media without having the facts,” Aidoo said.

“There was some difficulty at home but John did not stab Richlove. Richlove was conscious and she did not jump any walls. The matter has been resolved between husband and wife and both are happy together.

“I dont know why Freeman was in a rush to speak to the media and was even pronoucing judgements on the matter when he did not have the facts. Certainly Freeman has some few questions to answer on this matter.”

According to reports, Paintsil was confronted by his wife following rumours he slept with some prostitutes during the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in South Africa.

The allegation was first made by football enthusiast and social commentator Appiah Kofi popularly known as Appiah Stadium in a radio interview.

Appiah alleged that the veteran defender was responsible for bringing women to the Black Stars camp to have sexual intercourse with them and this culminated in the team’s poor output at the Afcon.

Paintsil, however, denied the allegation and threatened to drag Appiah Stadium to court to clear his name.

The wife of the defender is reported to have questioned Paintsil on several occasions since the issue broke.

Paintsil, 31, was a key defender in the Ghana team that finished fourth at the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa earlier this month.

He last played for Israel’s Hapoel Tel Aviv after previous stints with Leicester City, West Ham United and Fulham in England.