There has been brewing tension between Ghana and South Africa following last Sunday’s FIFA World Cup Qualifier in Cape Coast.
Ghana, courtesy an Andre Ayew first half penalty, beat the Bafana Bafana 1-0 to top Group G and book a place in the final playoff round, in a game the South Africans just needed to avoid defeat.
Since then, the South Africa Football Association has launched a public attack on the officials of the game and have officially filed a complaint to FIFA, citing match fixing and influence of third parties in terms of betting on the game.
These allegations have clearly not sat well with the Ghana Football Association, who released a statement on Thursday, November 18, branding the allegations as false and irresponsible.
Reacting to the recent development, President of the Ghana Football Association questioned the competence of SAFA in the area of planning, and urged them to accept defeat honorably.
“Danny Jordaan wasn’t even here in Ghana, but he was on TV telling people that Accra to Cape Coast is 9 hours. Are we not kidding?” Okraku retorted.
“When the Ghana Football Association thought it wise to air lift our players from Accra to Takoradi in order to shorten the distance, the South Africans decided to travel the 2 hour journey by road. Is that proper planning?
“The South Africans keep shifting goalposts. From being robbed by the referee to the match being manipulated by third parties to the match being played by ball boys.
“It is important that someone tells Danny [Jordaan] to speak the truth to the South African people to understand that their team, per their own judgement is not good enough,” he added.
Ghana will face either Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia in the final playoff round for a place in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar next year.
