Italian police stopped former Ghana international Sulley Muntari on Tuesday and impounded his vehicle for defaulting on lease payments, according to multiple reports in the European country.
According to the daily Il Secolo XIX, the company from which Muntari leased the vehicle submitted a complaint to police for the retrieval of the car from the Italian based midfielder.
Muntari was detained at Chiasso, on the border between Italy and Switzerland, and the car taken from him.
He is alleged to have not been able to pay his monthly installments on the leased car – a Mercedes Amg G63 reportedly worth more than 150,000 euros.
Police produced a court order to seize the vehicle, and the Ghanaian star reportedly admitted to not being able to make the payments, pleading with the police that he would make them later.
“It’s true, I have defaulted with the installment payments. I’m going through a moment of great difficulty. I’ll arrange it all sooner.” he’s reported to have said.
The report adds that Sulley was recently also arrested for failing to pay a former agent some money he owed him and that the player is mired in financial difficulty.
However, Muntari has responded to the report through his lawyers clarifying his side of the situation.
According to a statement, claims in the report that he hasn’t paid the installments due to financial difficulties are wrong but that it’s simply a bureaucratic matter with his leasing company.
Muntari has been one of the most successful Ghanaian players of the recent generation and has played for some of the biggest clubs around Europe, therefore it would be quite surprising if he has indeed landed himself in financial problems.