Former Ghana Football Association(GFA) president,Kwesi Nyantakyi,has revealed that undercover journalist,Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ Number 12 exposé is still flying under his radar.
The investigative piece which was premiered on June 6,2018,highlighted the level of corruption in football and among football administrators in Ghana and across Africa.The former GFA boss,Kwesi Nyantakyi was seen being paid off in the exposé
Speaking on starr chat with Bola Ray on January 11,2023,the former Vice President of CAF said he is still yet to take a glimpse of the footage.
“I didn’t watch it Oo,I didn’t,no ! I cannot watch it,watch it for what ?
Kwesi Nyantakyi further added,that even if the investigative piece is resolved in court,he will not make a comeback to football administration as his dismissal has made him have satisfactory dose of family moments.
“No no no no.. it’s okay I’ve had enough,look I was almost traveling around because of football and people thought I was enjoying, I was never enjoying, sometimes your kids even see you and they think you are their uncle,they don’t know you ! So what I did was anytime I was in Ghana I’ll take them to school just to build a certain rappor otherwise your children will start calling you uncle because you’re an absentee father, now I’m there and I’m happy with that”
Kwesi Nyantakyi also noted that during his tenure in office,football took the nation by storm,eclipsing the tourism ministry.
“In 2006 after the World Cup, we went to South-East Asia to play 2 friendly matches. We played Japan and Korea and wherever we went because of our exploits at the World Cup, people were just running after our players including Asamoah Gyan, John Mensah, John Painstill etc. They were worshipped, I mean literally worshipped as heroes and then it was there that they told us, that they had never heard the name Ghana before, they thought it was Diana in the Caribbean and that since Ghana went into the 2006 World Cup, the demand for Ghana’s cocoa had increase in Japan and Korea. We did a lot to market this country”
‘Number 12’—named because corruption was the ‘12th player on the football team’.
President Akufo Addo dismantled the Ghana Football Association as a result of this exposé, which implicated nearly the whole football administration in Ghana. Following its meeting on June 8, 2018,the Executive Committee of the Ghana Football Association abolished the Referees Committee and decided that all officials named in the exposé should resign.As a result, all football matches throughout the nation were cancelled.
–
Story by:Gabriel Tecco Mensah|univers.ug.edu.gh
