Ghanaian goalkeeper Richard Kingson has spent most of his footballing career in Turkey, loaned out from Galatasaray to smalle clubs. The bulk of the little fame he can claim among football fans comes from his performances for the national side in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.

Apparently, there was more to his performances, or specifically his time in Germany, back in 2006, than just his ability between the posts. A 90 time international for the Black stars, currently without a club, Kingson has recently come out and told about being approached during the 2006 World Cup and being offered a bribe to throw the match against the Czech Republic.

In the 2006 World Cup in Germany, we were about to play Czech Republic. By then they were the second best in the world. A Ghanaian led me to some people to take a bribe and it was this woman, the man’s wife, who delivered me and delivered Ghanaians. I was very confused and I didn’t know what to do but I called her and told her. My wife said: ‘Richard, I love you not because of your money, so don’t get tempted by this offer to lose your dignity and credibility.

I got confused by weighing the options of getting richer by $300,000 after that match, whereas all that I would get in the event of a Ghana victory would be much less – just $3,000.

Ghana won that match 2-0, making it to the round of 16 before losing to Brazil. Kingson was Ghana’s keeper in 2010 as well, helping them make the quarterfinals, before the tragic loss to Uruguay in a penalty shootout.

His wife, Adelaide Tawiah, the woman Kingson claims to have saved him from making a huge mistake, has recently confessed to a pastor about being a witch, claiming she has bewitched her husband and feels responsible for throwing his career and life into disarray. Kingson, who has hardly played any club football in the past five seasons, was released from Hammarby last year. Kingson himself went on Facebook and produced the strong statement – My wife is not a witch.