The government should have consulted football club owners on plans to sanitise the sector after Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ expose on corruption in Ghana football, the Director of Operations for the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Nana Ofori Owusu has said.
Mr. Ofori Owusu, who is also a management member of Elmina Sharks FC, said the club owners had the most to lose in the matter.
[contextly_sidebar id=”xtlIQGtXVYCTPb1ITfVuFCZIbZBbvHvP”]“You cost us money but you don’t consult us. Has government taken the right step,” he quizzed on The Big Issue.
His comments after the government secured an interim injunction on all the activities of the Ghana Football Association.
“The government should have liaised with team owners. When you go and put an injunction and you stop [Ghana football], how much money has the government invested in the local league,” Mr. Ofori Owusu lamented.
“Name one Pesewa that government has put into the Premier League, the Division One League, the Division Two League, in the last three or four years? They have not.”
Though football activities have come to a halt, club owners are still having to pay for the upkeep of their teams, Mr. Ofori Owusu noted.
“The people who have invested money are paying signing bonuses of GHc 30,000 cedis to players. They are paying monthly salaries [for] 30 players. We pay monthly fees of players and coaches… then you go and stop the activities of the league.”
“Right now, we are keeping people at camp. Who is paying? Can government come and create their own teams,” he added.
After the injunction, the government set up a five-member committee to manage the nation’s football.
The members of the committee are Dr. Kofi Amoah, who is the chairperson, Cudjoe Fianoo, Chairman of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) as Secretary, Abedi Pele, former Black Stars skipper, Rev Osei Kofi, former Black Stars and Asante Kotoko player, and Eva Okyere, a former sports journalist.
The committee’s spokesperson will be Peace FM sports reporter, Dan Kweku Yeboah.
But Mr. Ofori Owusu is also not happy with the apparent unilateral setting up of the committee.
“If you go and put up a new five-man committee without consultation and I refuse to play for you, can you go and create your own teams?”
Scope of injunction
The order of the court bars the GFA and its officials from carrying out all official duties at least for ten days.
This includes the organization of football matches, the selling of the association’s assets, the appointment and election of officials and other official duties.
In her argument before the court, the Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo, contended that GFA was being used for illegal purposes.
The injunction, according to the AG, is, therefore, necessary to protect the public.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citinewsroom.com/Ghana