Mensah free to play now
Ghana defender Jonathan Mensah has finished serving his FIFA ban and is now free to return to action, particularly for his club after missing the start of the season.
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Mensah, was given a four-month ban as punishment for leaving Italy’s Udinese to join Evian in France at a time that he was still under contract with the Serie A side.
The ban affected Mensah from playing any signigicant role for his club and but he is relieved “it was all over.”
“It’s was quite a psychological challenge having to stay at home without playing and it was not through injury.
“You can’t imagine my relieve and joy. It feels very good and I’m happy to be back. I thank God for giving me the strength and courage to be able to go through this very hard times” he told the Graphic Sports in an interview.
While he watched on as his teammates trained and played, Mensah said he was kept busy and active with his own training regime, doing more gym work and strictly going by a pitch training exercise drawn up for him.
“It’s not be an easy period but thankfully, I’ve managed to stay fit. I’m ready physically and psychologically and can’t wait to get back into action,” the Black Stars defender said.
The 25-year-old has already reported for duty with his club, Evian Thonon Gaillard who are now playing in in the French second tier league.
The club have welcomed him back with a statement on their website: “From midnight on Wednesday, Jonathan Mensah is officially allowed to play in competitions again. Suspended four months by FIFA, the Ghanaian defender is now part of the players who can be called up by Safet Susic. This is the end to the lengthy absence of Papy,” the statement on Evian’s website read.
He has, however, remained tight-lipped over his future with Evian, refusing to indicate if he would stay or leave with indication that Scottish club Celtic are preparing a 3.5 million bid for him.
Mensah initially signed a four-year-deal with Evian TG from Udinese in 2011 but the deal expired last season.