A 13-year legal battle over the governance of amputee football in Ghana has finally come to an end after the High Court ruled in favour of the National Sports Authority (NSA) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) Ghana.
The landmark judgment, delivered by Justice Jerome Noble-Nkrumah at Commercial Court 6, dismissed all claims brought by the Ghana Amputee Football Federation (GAFF), holding that the case presented by the NSA and NPC Ghana was more probable.
The court subsequently granted the reliefs sought in the defendants’ counterclaim, affirming the authority of the NSA and NPC Ghana to oversee the governance and recognition of amputee football under Ghana’s national sports framework.
The court also awarded GH¢60,000 in legal costs each to the NSA and NPC Ghana, although both institutions had sought significantly higher amounts.
In one of the most far-reaching aspects of the ruling, the court issued perpetual orders against the Ghana Amputee Football Federation and several of its officials, including Francis Adjetey Sowah, Charles Narh Teye, John Kuku Dsane, Philip Cecil Richter and Benjamin Charles Armah, restraining them from associating themselves with amputee sport in Ghana in accordance with the judgment.
The dispute dates back to 2013 and 2014, when disagreements emerged over which institution held the legal mandate to administer amputee football in Ghana.
Over the years, the conflict developed into one of Ghana’s longest-running sports governance disputes, involving multiple court proceedings, competing administrative structures, government intervention and correspondence with international sporting bodies.
Central to the litigation were questions surrounding the lawful administration of amputee football, the recognition of competing organisations, the legitimacy of governance structures and elections, and the authority of Ghana’s sports institutions under the country’s legal framework.
Throughout the proceedings, the NSA and NPC Ghana consistently argued that amputee football falls under Ghana’s recognised national sports governance system.
Court records also show that while the case was pending, the Commercial Division of the High Court directed the then Ministry of Youth and Sports to establish measures that would allow Ghana to participate in international amputee football competitions.
The ministry subsequently developed a roadmap, which received the court’s approval and enabled Ghana to compete at the Amputee Football World Cup while preserving the integrity of the ongoing litigation. The process was supervised by the ministry with recognised roles assigned to the NPC Ghana led by Samson Deen.
