Government can’t impose a GFA President on us – Fianoo

The Chairman of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA), Kudjoe Fianoo says the government should not attempt to impose anyone on football administrators as plans reach a crescendo to find a successor to Kwesi Nyantakyi.

According to Mr Fianoo, government appointees, like all Ghanaians, are free to comment on the state of Ghana football and suggest names they deem fit to lead the Ghana Football Association. However, any systematic attempt to favour a particular candidate in the GFA presidential race will be vehemently opposed.

“Everyone is free to make suggestions and come up with names of people they feel can lead the association, but at the end of the day, it is Congress, the highest decision-making body of the FA, that will vote and decide who becomes the next FA President. No one can impose someone on us,” Fianoo said in an interview on Asempa FM.

Fianoo’s comments come after Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, Executive Director of the Danquah Institute and a close associate of the President, hinted that government is lobbying ex-Ghanaian international Tony Baffoe to be the next Ghana Football Association President.

Gabby took to social media site Facebook to literally campaign for Baffoe. He posted: "I’ve known him for over 40 years. In my view, he will be the best Ghanaian to lead the reformation of the Ghana Football Association. He is decent. He believes in discipline.

He is not corrupt. He loves and lives football. He is a patriot. He knows the game and the business of the game, locally and internationally. He has played at the highest level, in Europe’s top leagues, and captained Ghana’s national team.

He is respected worldwide in football. When the dust settles, help me convince him and the powers that be to make him the man for the new GFA. His name is Anthony Baffoe".

The Ghana Football Association is likely to be liquidated after an undercover investigation by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas exposed several instances of alleged corruption involving referees and Executive Committee members of the body, including its former President Kwesi Nyantakyi.

The sting forced Mr Nyantakyi to resign from all his positions at CAF, FIFA and the Ghana Football Association. This has left a vacuum at the FA, which needs to be fixed in the shortest possible time.

It is unknown if Tony Baffoe, who played for the Black Stars in the late 80s and early 1990s is interested in the job even though his name has come up for discussion.

Baffoe served as a FIFA Match Co-ordinator at the just-ended 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and is the General Secretary of the Professional Footballers Association of Ghana.