Ghana to shut down football association after graft claims

ACCRA: Ghana on Thursday said it would dissolve the country’s football association after explosive revelations of bribe-taking by referees and kickbacks to top officials that have shocked the football-mad nation.

Information minister Mustapha Abdul-Hamid said the government had “decided to take immediate steps to have the GFA (Ghana Football Association) dissolved” because of the “widespread nature of the apparent rot”.

The GFA had earlier pledged to tackle corruption in the wake of a long-awaited undercover documentary unveiled in Accra on Wednesday night, just over a week before the start of the World Cup finals.

Hidden camera footage purportedly showed referees taking as little as $100 (85 euros) each to rig matches.

It further alleged that GFA President Kwesi Nyantakyi -- a senior member of world governing body FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) -- requested $11 million from reporters posing as investors to secure government contracts.

He also allegedly tried to profit personally from a $5 million-a-year, five-year sponsorship deal with the GFA in what the expose said was a “clear breach” of ethics.

The information minister said the government, which has pledged to cut corruption in the country, was “shocked and outraged” at the claims.

The documentary “exposes gross malfunctioning of the Ghana Football Association characterised by widespread fraud, corruption and bribery”, he said in a statement.

The conduct of all GFA officials and the suspended director-general of the National Sports Authority, Robert Sarfo Mensah, was referred to police for further investigation and any “appropriate action”, he added.

Provisional measures will be put in place to run the sport in Ghana until a new body is formed. CAF and FIFA will be kept informed, he said.

“Government will see to it that the necessary reforms are urgently undertaken to sanitise football administration in the country,” the minister stated.

The GFA said it had not seen the documentary, which has sparked concerns about media freedom in Ghana after the journalist responsible received death threats.

But it said in a statement: “We view the allegations circulating in the media very seriously and would wish to take immediate steps to address them.”