Number 12: Happy With The Outcome Of My Work – Anas

Ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has expressed joy that his undercover work titled Number 12, which uncovered rot in African football, has yielded positive results and helped to sanitise football in Ghana and on the continent.

This follows the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) dismissal of some referees who were captured on the video taking bribes.

Touted by connoisseurs and pundits of the inky fraternity and stakeholders alike, as the most dreaded undercover project of all time to have not just rocked football in Ghana, but Africa as a whole, the “Number 12” resulted in many casualties within the football arena.

Following from which the controversies continue to linger on after the premiering of the video on 6th June 2018 at the Accra International Conference Centre and subsequently showed at various venues across the country.

The massive footprints from the Tiger Eye PI project led by Africa’s most feared and well achieved undercover journalist, saw the President of the Ghana Football Association, GFA, Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi banned from all football-related activities for life after he was suspended by FIFA 48-hours after the first premiering of the expose.

Mr. Nyantakyi also lost his positions as Confederation of African Football, CAF, first vice chairman, FIFA Council member and chairman of the WAFU Zone B. Many other football administrators, especially referees who were captured in the over two years of painstaking sting operation also received various sanctions between two to ten years bans from the world football governing body, FIFA.

Speaking at a youth leadership summit over the weekend, Anas expressed delight about the shake-up in world football, including Ghana and Africa, due to his investigative piece.

He said: “Referee Marwa of Kenya was brought back while officiating at the World Cup, top African referees, even the Nigerian coach was brought down. So, for me, Ghana was just one of the stories.

“It was a continental problem because what happened was not only in Ghana but many other countries. I’m happy today we are here, I’m happy that over 64 Ghanaian referees are home now, I’m happy that CAF has sacked over 30 referees in Africa, I’m happy that FIFA has taken decisions that we hope at the end of the day will inure to the benefit of not only African football, not only Ghanaian football but world football as a whole.”