BLACK MAGIC RUINED MY CAREER
A Ghanaian player has swapped football for the church, saying mysterious forces halted his international hopes
At his peak, Charles ‘The Terror’ Taylor was unplayable.
A key figure in the Hearts of Oak attack as they won three successive league titles, he seemed destined to become one of Ghana’s biggest stars for years to come, only for mysterious forces to get in the way. Persistent injuries slowed his ascent, and the man himself claims to know the reason why.
“People still don’t believe me, but the moment I started getting close to the national team, people used juju on me,” he tells Fourfourtwo, citing the witchcraft practice most closely associated with west Africa.
It’s a subject that’s back in the public eye in Ghana after centre-back Rashid Sumaila had to strenuously deny bizarre accusations from a spiritualist that he had used juju to inflict an injury on fellow defender Jerry Akaminko, ensuring he made the squad for the 2014 World Cup.
That followed statements made by former Ghana coach Goran Stevanovic, who complained in an official report to the country’s FA in 2012 that some players in the country were using black magic, and that accusations among team-mates had created a rift in the national squad.
“Footballers use black magic to hurt each other or to generally influence team dynamics so that they can get ahead,” adds Taylor (left), who is now 34 and who was recently ordained as a pastor, turning to the church after recurring knee problems. “Most players who are God-fearing tend not to succeed in football because they don’t use black magic.”
Apparently, even players overseas aren’t safe. Ahead of Ghana’s World Cup meeting with Portugal two years ago, a witchdoctor claimed he had enlisted the help of four dogs to inflict a mystical injury on Cristiano Ronaldo.
“This injury can never be cured by any medic; today it’s his knee, tomorrow it’s his thigh, next day it’s something else,” explained Nana Kwaku Bonsam, whose name is said to translate as ‘Devil of Wednesday’. Sadly for him, the game was played on a Thursday, not a Wednesday, Ronaldo scored and Ghana lost. Well, it was worth a try.