GFA to Elect New President After Nyantakyi’s Resignation

The Ghana Football Association has indicated its readiness to elect a new president following the resignation of its embattled boss, Kwesi Nyantakyi.

The FA in a statement said it would come up with a roadmap that will ensure a new leader is elected in accordance with its statutes.

Kwesi Nyantakyi resigned from the GFA on Friday following an exposé by journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas on corruption in football, which captured him on camera acting unprofessionally.

The video, among other things in the video, allegedly took a bribe to illegally secure a $15 million sponsorship deal for Ghana’s local league, which would have seen him pocket about 20% of the sponsorship sum, against FIFA and GFA’s regulations.

The FA currently appears to be in crisis as Kwesi Nyantakyi had earlier sacked his Vice President George Afryie and some top officials of the Association have had their credibilities dented due to their misconducts in the investigative film.

The Association’s General Secretary Isaac Addo in a statement announced that the Association would soon make public the roadmap for the election of a new president.

The GFA shall soon come out with a road map for the elections of a substantive President in accordance with its Statutes.

As part of measures to address to resolve the crisis that has resulted from the revelation of deep-seated corruption in local football, the GFA has also constituted a 5-member committee to meet with government and fashion out a way to address the problem and institute new reforms to restore the integrity of local football.

This comes in the face of government’s announcement on Thursday that it is taking to dissolve the FA, although some have challenged the plan, noting that the GFA is an autonomous body.

The GFA has among other measures taken to address the problem, dissolved of the Referees Committee, suspended all football competitions, and initiated judicial proceedings to look into the conduct of all officials caught on tape taking a bribe, among other misconducts.

All other officials captured in the video have been banned from all football-related activities in Ghana.

Meanwhile, FIFA has already handed Kwesi Nyantakyi a 90-day ban as it begins a thorough investigation into the matter.

Kwesi Nyantakyi, until the ban was a Member of the FIFA Council, Member of the FIFA Associations Committee, First Vice President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and President of the West African Football Union (WAFU) Zone B.

Who takes over?

Many have tipped Lawyer Kweku Ayiah, the management committee chairman of the Black Starlet to be elected as the new FA boss.

He was reportedly chosen to serve as an interim president of the FA when Kwesi Nyantakyi was cited for a criminal offence and reported to the Police CID by President Akufo-Addo after he watched excerpts of Anas’ investigative film.

Lawyer Ayiah was also captured in Anas’ film rejecting a bribe.