Ghana set up interim body to manage football

The Ghanaian government has constituted a five-member interim committee to oversee the administration of football and other related matters, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, the Minister for Information said in a statement.

The members of the committee are Kofi Amoah, a business mogul and football enthusiast, Cudjoe Fianoo, Chairman of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA), Abedi Pele, three-time African best player, Osei Kofi, former player of the Black Stars, the senior national male team and Eva Otchere, ex-sports journalist and lawyer, reports Xinhua news agency.

Wednesday's statement said that the government would keep engaging FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to discuss current developments in Ghanaian football administration and to chart the way forward after the revelations in the video by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his team.

Amoah is expected to chair the committee.

"Government calls on the Ghanaian people to exercise restraint as it takes steps to sanitize the situation and restore normalcy to football in Ghana," the statement added.

The setting up of the interim body comes just a day after the government secured a 10-day injunction which keeps the FA and its officials from carrying out all official duties, including the organization of football matches, the selling of the association's assets and the appointment and election of officials.

The documentary exposes the gross mal-functioning of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), characterised by widespread fraud, corruption and bribery.

More than 70 referees are captured in the video allegedly negotiating to compromise football matches.

The president of the GFA Kwesi Nyantakyi was caught on camera receiving hefty wads of dollars as bribe.

He has been banned for 90 days by FIFA's ethics committee and is also under investigations by the criminal investigations department of the Ghana police.

--IANS

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