Let’s protect image of Ghana Football now!

The most bizarre spectacle never witnessed in Ghana’s football history was witnessed at the Obuasi Len Clay Stadium last week during a final Ghana Premier League match involving Ashantigold and Inter Allies.

The homesters Ashantigold, who eventually finished ninth in the 18-club league, won by a wide 7-0 margin, raising eyebrows in the process, especially where their opponents had never lost by that margin throughout the season. Aside from that, the manner in which the goalkeeper of Inter Allies virtually gifted an Ashgold attacker the fourth goal gave many a fan cause to suspect foul play.

No wonder a substitute defender of Inter Allies, Hashmin Musah, obviously alarmed by the turn of events on the pitch, dramatically scored two own goals which has since attracted global attention. Since then, all the major foreign media platforms have been feeding fat on this ignominious incident, casting another slur on Ghana Football, exactly three years after Anas’ Number 12 documentary on corruption in the local game ended president Kwesi Nyantakyi’s 13-year reign and provoked immediate reforms.

Though the fallout of the Anas Number 12 video really dented the image of Ghana Football, we daresay that the nature of Musah’s own goals were simply ridiculous and unbelievable. Indeed, never in the history of world football has anything like that happened in any competitive match.

However, it is interesting to note that the man who masterminded that action which has since moved the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to open investigations into the matter, seems to have no regret, whatsoever. In his own words after the match, Musah categorically stated that he deliberately scored those two own goals purposely to ‘destroy’ the business of a betting syndicate which had predetermined that the game should end 5-1.

According to him, though he had heard rumours of the 5-1 scoreline as the odds of a bet in the team’s hotel way ahead of the match, he ignored it until the unfolding events in the game confirmed his suspicion.

Since then, Musah’s behaviour has attracted mixed reactions from the public. While some Ghanaians, including football chiefs, have hailed the player’s action as deserving of a reward for trying to expose an illegality in the game, others have condemned the crude and amateurish way he went about his ‘operation’, putting Ghana Football in a bad light once again. Whether he was right or wrong will be made known after the investigations.

We commend the GFA for instituting an immediate probe into the unfortunate incident, while suspending the issuance of introductory letters for visa to any of the players of the two clubs who are under investigation until further notice.

But beyond the debate and the ongoing GFA investigations, we believe the whip must be cracked on whoever is found guilty to serve as a deterrent and also help clamp down on match-fixing and betting which are endemic in our domestic leagues.

It is perceived among local football circles that match-fixing and betting are commonplace in the country’s football leagues, hence the need to use this particular incident as a perfect case study to nip in the bud these cancerous elements, and the related issue of bribery of players and match officials, once and for all.

It is an open secret that Ghana Football is held in high esteem globally, following the natural talents that abound in this country, as well as the successes chalked up by the various national teams and clubs on the international scene. This is the more reason why all Ghanaians must join forces with the GFA and the security forces to tackle the issues comprehensively.

We urge every citizen to see this important exercise as a national agenda and volunteer information which could lead to exposing the faceless enemies of the local game. Together, we can purge Ghana Football of corruption and redeem its sinking image for the benefit of all and sundry.