Ghana dissolves football association after top official was embroiled in “cash gift” scandal
Ghana has dissolved its national football association after its president was filmed by an undercover journalist receiving a “cash gift”.
Kwesi Nyantakyi is seen in the video bagging bundles of cash said to amount to US$65,000 from the journalist who pretended to be a businessman keen to invest in Ghanaian football.
Nyantakyi is the vice-president of the Confederations of African Football (CAF), and also a member of the FIFA Coincil.
He is yet to comment on the revelations.
Ghana’s information minister Mustapha Abdul-Hamid said the government had “decided to take immediate steps to have the GFA [Ghana Football Association] dissolved”, citing the “widespread nature of the apparent rot”.
FIFA is against government interference in football administration matters in its member countries, and has always advocated for the independence of football associations. It remains to be seen how it will react to the move by the Ghanaian government.
In the past, FIFA has banned countries for political meddling in football administration, including Nigeria.
The expose by the controversial Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremayaw Anas has raised many questions about the nature of football officiating in Africa.
The footage shows more than 100 football officials – most of them West African referees – receiving the cash gifts despite clear FIFA regulations that bar them from doing so.
Among thoese captured in the expose was a Kenyan top referee, Adel Range Marwa – who was due to officiate at the FIFA World Cup that begins next week in Russia. He resigned after the film went public.
