The Ghana Football Association (GFA) is facing heavy criticism from Ghanaians who are demanding their dismissal. Just last week, the GFA claimed they were innocent in the matter of Black Stars budgets and national team expenditure, saying their role was limited to just creating budgets. However, a memo written by the GFA’s General Secretary, outlining their proposed budget for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, has been leaked, revealing their true involvement.
“Indeed, as part of our commitment to transparency, the GFA has always provided the Ministry responsible for Sports with the first draft budget for the national teams. Beyond this, everything to do with the budgeting and expenditure related to the Black Stars sits with the Ministry. For emphasis, payments made in relation to the Black Stars are exclusively handled by the Ministry.”- a statement from the FA read.
On November 14, 2022, Black Stars coach Otto Addo unveiled a 26-man squad for the World Cup, with each selected player slated to receive a hefty appearance fee of $100,000.
Surprisingly, the GFA’s budget included a $20,000 honorarium for Otto Addo’s “Personal Assistant,” the same amount given to Ghana’s scouts and the head of delegation.
The budget also allocated $7,000 per player for airfare to Abu Dhabi, UAE. However, this raises questions as players were flying from different locations, such as Qatar (Andre Ayew) and Hearts of Oak’s Daniel Afriyie Barnieh.
The citizenry demand for the GFA’s dismissal is not solely based on the team’s recent failure. Rather, it is the culmination of long-standing concerns about corruption, match-fixing, and mismanagement within the organization.
“Ghana Football Association are the most corrupt people in Ghana, but they have never been investigated. They are looting resources” one says.
“They are the team that wins nothing except shame. You have a team that for over forty (40) years has nothing to its name, and we have administrators who cannot resign by themselves, what is even the use of the Special Prosecutor” – one person reveals.
“The government should sack the GFA and not fear a FIFA ban because FIFA didn’t create Ghana football. If the government truly wants to improve Ghana football, they need to overhaul the Football Association,” – another citizen bemoans.
“I believed in the Kurt Okraku so much but I think this time around he has lost it and needs to be sacked in order to save NDC- a proud NDC supporter laments.
GFA Statement on Black Stars exit from FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 finals
“We regret our inability to progress to the knockout phase of the competition and offer our profound apologies to the government, the people of Ghana. We believe that valuable lessons have been learnt from our qualification and participation in the tournament and aim to continue with the positives going into the future”
It’s staggering to consider: just one year after competing in the World Cup, Ghana’s Black Stars suffered a humiliating setback, failing to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations. Despite being grouped with teams like Niger, Sudan, and Angola, the Black Stars embarrassingly failed to secure a single win in six matches.
The “bus scandal” has further exacerbated the situation, with documents revealing that the GFA cleared each of the nine buses at a staggering cost of GHC 72,116.10, totaling GHC 649,044.90.
Many clubs have struggled to register the buses due to difficulties in obtaining necessary documentation from Customs, sparking concerns about the procurement process and potential corruption.
A beneficiary, who is also the bankroller of New Edubiase United, revealed that the bus allocated to them is riddled with problems, prompting them to repair it and donate it to a local school.
Documents obtained by JoySports show that the GFA cleared each bus at a cost of GHC 72,116.10, with a total of GHC 649,044.90 spent on clearing the buses. This raised are; who authorized it?, how funds were allocated?, and why proper due diligence was not conducted?, resulting in some buses being unusable and requiring immediate repairs.
As the controversy continues to unfold, one thing is clear: the GFA’s credibility has been severely damaged, and drastic action is needed to restore trust in Ghanaian football.
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Story by Asack Pius|univers.ug.edu.gh
