A former Sports Minister Nii Lantey Vanderpuye has called on the government to ignore potential sanctions from FIFA and dissolve the Ghana Football Association.
The Member of Parliament for Odododiodoo in Accra said after watching the explosive exposé by journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas on corrupt activities by referees and officials, there is the need for a house cleansing exercise at the FA to restore the confidence in Ghana football.
In the investigative piece shown at the Conference Centre Wednesday, several high profile officials of the Ghana FA including the President of the Association, Kwasi Nyantakyi, were seen taking bribes from Anas’ men to compromise their decisions on the game and other interests.
Majority of Ghanaians who have watched the video have taken to social media to call for the immediate resignation of Mr. Nyantakyi.
But Mr. Vanderpuye believes that Nyantakyi must not be the only culprit stating that the government must not be scared by sanctions from FIFA and take steps to cleanse the entire association.
“The government needs to dissolve the GFA…If we don’t dissolve the FA and the Regional bodies we won’t solve anything [because] with the sort of structure we have…if we conduct FA elections 10 times, Nyantakyi will win 10 times,” the former deputy Trade Minister said on Citi FM Thursday.
He added “there must be a total cleansing of the Ghana Football Association, I won’t accept only Nyantakyi’s removal. We need to dissolve the GFA and damn the consequences [from FIFA] Nigeria did it and are reaping the rewards. This is the time for us to rebuild ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.”
Meanwhile, the Football Association has said even though it is yet to watch the video, it will not shield any official captured in the investigative piece.
“The GFA wishes to place on record that, there will be no attempt of a cover-up or shield any of our members caught in alleged acts of corruption. The GFA wishes to assure all that as an institution it does not condone any manner of corrupt practices.
“Though the GFA did not commission Tiger Eye PI to undertake this exercise and have not been provided with the opportunity of watching the documentary, we view the allegations circulating in the media very seriously and would wish to take immediate steps to address them,” the FA said in a statement.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
