John Paintsil says sorry for beating up his wife

Ghana defender John Paintsil has apologized for physically assaulting his wife Richlove and says his actions are “regrettable”.

The Hapoel Tel Aviv player was picked up by the Legon Police on Friday afternoon when he lost his cool during a heated argument with his wife at their plush Trasacco Valley residence.

His neighbour Amoah Danquah, an influential person in the local business community, was also assaulted by the player and he reported the matter to the Police.

A cartoon in the Graphic Sports on the John Paintsil saga

Paintsil was arrested but later granted bail the same night. 

“I’m sorry about what has happened in the past few days. But I want to stress, particularly to the young ones who look up to me, that I’m not a violent person in character. What happened was just unfortunate,” Paintsil told the Graphic Sports newspaper.

“It was a misunderstanding which happens in many marriages every now and then, but our argument got out of hand.

“I lost my temper and threw a punch which unfortunately hit my wife and injured her in the process.

“For the almost 13 years that we have been married, I’ve never raised my voice at my wife, let alone hit her.

“I really feel sorry for what happened and on hindsight, I believe I should have controlled my temper no matter how provoked I was.”

There were earlier reports that he stabbed his wife but that has been clarified by the Police.