Corruption, Ways And Means; Is Ghana Football Safe?

To be perfectly honest, I was wondering whether it is worth it even writing this article on this topic. This is because corruption and the infamous ‘ways and means’ is so firmly rooted in club football in Ghana that talking about it probably might not bring the change that is needed to market our football. But through this piece I hope people’s awareness will be awakened on the canker which threatens the sport locally.

There is a saying that there is no smoke without fire and with the increasing number of allegations of bribery levelled against club officials where opposing teams, players and referees are concerned, it will be foolhardy on anybody’s part to assume that corruption doesn’t exist in Ghana football, because it does. What makes it difficult is that no one is prepared to admit being corrupt and so as journalists, we are hampered by lack of evidence, but, because the Chairman of the Premier League Board, Welbeck Abra-Appiah admitted in an interview on Asempa Fm some weeks ago that virtually all clubs are engaged in such corrupt acts, let me take you through some scenarios which will, once and for all, dispel the notion that Ghana football is squeaky clean.

Once this season, a top team travelled for an away match and the referee for the game in question was paid by this club. The club, which we shall call Club A got to their destination and eventually lost the game, after which it was discovered that the home club, which we shall call Club B, paid the referee twice what Club A paid, so Club A officials had to meet the referee at a designated place to collect their money

In another instance, club officials of Club C hit out venomously at a certain referee after losing a match away to Club D. According to the club officials, the referee had given very questionable decisions in favour of Club D. It was later discovered that Club C officials had offered money to the said referee but the referee turned down the offer. As to whether Club D actually gave or offered money to the referee remains to be seen.

One other scenario is during another Glo Premier League match, in which Club E lost and angry officials approached the referee after the match to complain about some of his decisions during the game, only for the official to retort, ‘But you didn’t see me before the game.’

In yet another instance, Club F officials beat up a referee after losing a home game to Club G. It was later discovered that Club F officials paid money to the referee to influence the match in their favour and were incensed after a decision taken by the referee resulted in Club G scoring the only goal of the game.

I have to say that not all referees are engaged in such nefarious activities. Indeed, some referees have been brilliant this season, but if retired refereeing experts like Alex Kotey have come out to reveal that they had rejected offers from club officials whilst in active service as referees, then it clearly shows that integrity in football is fast becoming the oldest joke in the book.

I can guarantee you that between now and the end of the current league season, there will be some very surprising results that will ultimately decides who makes it into the ‘Top 4’ and who escapes relegation because clubs will do deals with each other.

As I pointed out, no club official is ready to own up to trying to influence referees, but certain results will clearly throw up lots of questions as to whether the referee had a hand in the final outcome, or whether players had been induced to play it soft with monetary gifts, or indeed, whether the match is truly being played in a competitive spirit, especially with 6 or so games to go.

In fact, a few weeks ago, a friend of mine told me that he was sourcing sponsorship for a Premier League Club and as a result, the club gave him access to their books so that he could have a fair idea of its expenditure. He looked through the books and listed among the expenses was ‘courtesies extended to referees’ and ‘ways and means’. According to my friend, the amounts attached to these ‘expenses’ blew his mind.

You might be asking what sort of money could be budgeted for such purposes, but to underline certain facts, painstaking investigations turned up some very interesting issues.

For example, a club in the Glo Premier League engaged in such activities will invest an average of 2000 Ghana Cedis per match for ‘ways and means’. Interestingly, the first 10 games of the campaign don’t see too much activity in this regard, but the remaining games of the campaign see an upturn in these activities. I am just wondering where the clubs get such money for corrupt and spiritual activities, when their players are poorly paid.

Surprised? Then read on. As of last season, the highest paid player in the Premier League was Kwadwo Poku of Asante Kotoko, who was earning 450 Ghana Cedis a month. Last season’s top scorer Eric Bekoe was on 170 Ghana Cedis a month. In fact some clubs pay a maximum of 70 Ghana cedis a month to players, some of whom may have families to cater for, and some players earn as low as 30 Ghana Cedis a month, and yet millions of money is somehow found to pay spiritualists and influence referees. No wonder most of the players will jump at the first opportunity to leave the country for greener pastures, because they don’t seem to be the priority of the club officials. As a result, the Premier League is unable to keep hold of its stars and less supporters troop to the stadium to watch matches, which leads to less revenue for the clubs.

Have all these clubs considered that these activities will also drive away potential sponsors for themselves? Because the stark truth is that no sponsor will give clubs money to spend on ‘ways and means’, and gradually, as a result of these things, the competitive nature of the sport is being eroded. It is indeed a crying shame that certain clubs rely solely on the money provided by title sponsor Glo, without actually getting sponsors of their own because of these practices, and you and I know that the Glo money, whilst helpful, cannot cover club expenses. Unfortunately, honesty and integrity in your dealings, which will get you sponsorship, is thrown to the dogs by some of these unscrupulous club officials.

The least said about the first and second division clubs in the country with regards to ‘ways and means’, the better.

I will be back to write about the other side of ways and means, which involves spiritual practices which are meant to secure victory for clubs during matches. The question however is that with all these things going on, is Ghana football safe? Your guess is as good as mine