The Ghana Football Association’s Appeals Committee has dismissed the appeals filed by Ashantigold Sporting Club and Inter Allies FC against the sanctions imposed on them by the Disciplinary Committee for alleged misconduct.
Both clubs appealed the Disciplinary Committee’s sanctions after they were found guilty of match manipulation in their Match Week 34 game in the 2020/2021 Ghana Premier League season, at the Obuasi Len Clay stadium.
Following the investigations by the Committee, Ashantigold SC were found guilty of match manipulation and demoted to Division Two, the 3rd tier of Ghanaian football, with the club’s President, Dr. Kwaku Frimpong, and his son, Emmanuel Frimpong, who is the club’s Chief Executive Officer, also banned from football activities for 10 and 8 years respectively.
Eight of the club’s players were banned for two years each after being found guilty of match manipulation, with a further five players also handed four-year bans for their failure to appear before the GFA’s Disciplinary Committee.
Inter Allies Football Club were also demoted to the second division, with head coach, Felix Aboagye and team manager, Reuben Adjetey, handed 24-month bans from all football-related activity.
Four players were handed 24-month bans as part of the sanctions from the GFA. Kotoko’s Richmond Lamptey was banned from football for 30 months because he played for Inter Allies at the time of the said incident.
The GFA Appeals Committee stated that evidence available to the Committee supports the conclusion reached by the Disciplinary Committee that the match was not played competitively or under competitive circumstances.
Thus, the committee concluded that it “endorses all sanctions imposed by the GFA Disciplinary Committee on the Clubs, Players and Officers”
The decision of the committee has been forwarded to both parties and the rulings from the GFA’s disciplinary committee are to take effect from the 2022/2023 Ghana Premier League season.