Pinnick Heads FIFA/CAF Normalisation Team to Ghana

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) who also doubles as CAF’s Vice President, Amaju Melvin Pinnick has been selected to lead FIFA/CAF Normalisation team to Ghana

Ghana’s football has been in near crisis situation after former President and CAF Vice President, Kwesi Nyantakyi was forced to step down from the posts after been implicated in a bribe taking filmed by controversial Ghanaian journalist Anas.

Attempts by the government to dissolve GFA and conduct fresh elections was opposed by FIFA and a compromise has been reached with a Normalisation Committee to be put in place to run GFA until the present tenure expires.

THISDAY learnt that Pinnick was handed a letter from FIFA yesterday to proceed to Accra in company with three others in order to install the committee. FIFA’s General Secretary Fatma Samoura signed Pinnick’s letter to lead the delegationto Ghana.

Others on the entourage include; the Director, Member Associations of the Confederation of African Football Veron Mosengo Omba and Mr Nicola Luca who is the Manager Member Associations are part of the team headed by the Nigeria FA boss.

In August the government of Ghana sent a delegation to Zurich and met with officials of FIFA, comprising its President, Gianni Infantino, Samoura.

Both parties agreed to a road map to reform Ghana football after the sting operation which implicated several FA members, Referee and even some other top shots in the country’s sports sector.

The agreement ended nearly nine weeks of uncertainty about the government’s planned action to clean up the game in the county and ban threat from FIFA over the government’s intervention.

Similar ban threat was also hanging over Nigeria until the government responded adequately through the office of the then Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo in spite of the position personally taken by Nigeria’s Sports Minister Solomon Dalung.

When the government and FIFA met in Zurich during the period both sides agreed the withdrawal of a legal suit to dissolve the Ghana Football Association and the establishment of a normalisation committee to oversee the reforms.

The normalisation committee is to be established to replace GFA Executive Committee headed by Nyantakyi whose members were forced to leave office following the corruption scandal.