Memunatu Sulemana, a former goalkeeper for the Black Queens, has revealed that she was previously pregnant with twins but made the difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy in order to maintain her position in the national team.
Memunatu has been trending all week after a series of shocking revelations following the discovery of her living in a deplorable wooden structure and being shrouded in abject poverty, despite her influential role in the national team years ago.
Sharing her sad story, she said that, being naive at the time, her grandmother and a national team coach conspired to make her abort her babies, so she could join the Black Queens camp.
The former player, now 45 years old, participated in more than 30 matches for Ghana’s women’s national team during a career that lasted over a decade. Additionally, she was a member of the Black Queens squads that competed in the 1999, 2003, and 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup events.
“I got pregnant in but my coach and grandmother decided I had to abort it because we were a month and a week away from going to the Black Queens camp,” Sulemana told Original FM, as quoted by Ghanaweb.
“My coach went to see my grandparents. I was young by then so it was recently that an elderly man I know told me the place I reside was where my abortion was done.
“When we came, I was instructed to lie down and my stomach was injected so I felt the pain. I was carrying twins for seven months but I didn’t know and I was not seeing it. I was having my period regularly, there were no signs of me being pregnant.”
In relation to post-football career opportunities, Sulemana received an invitation from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 2018 to provide assistance with the draw for the Women’s African Cup of Nations held in Ghana that year.
Subsequently, she was appointed as a member of the technical team for Ghana’s U-17 female national team, the Black Maidens, where she served as the goalkeeper’s trainer. Later on, Sulemana assumed the same position for the Black Queens.
Watch the full interview below;
