GFA rubbishes league cancellation report

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has rubbished recent media reports which alleged that the local football governing body had agreed through the Executive Council (ExCo) to cancel the rest of the 2019/2020 football season.

Ghana’s league, which return last December after over a year of suspension due to the expose on corrupt practices by some football administrators by investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, was again suspended in March due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Fake news
However, last Tuesday, reports were rife over an alleged Executive Council (ExCo) meeting which unanimously agreed to terminate the current league season.

In a statement issued by the local football governing body yesterday, the GFA described the publication as “false, malicious and intended to cause injury to the reputation of the GFA. The publication is also calculated to deliberately cause confusion and disdain among the members of the association, sponsors, players, club owners and other stakeholders”.

The statement directed all stakeholders to treat the said publication with the utmost contempt it deserved because it was without merit.

“The GFA wishes to state categorically that no such decision was taken by the Executive Council of the GFA and as such the publication should be disregarded and treated with contempt by our stakeholders and the public”, the statement stressed.

June 30 deadline
It said a firm decision would be taken by June 30 after consultation with all stakeholders and urged the media portal concerned to desist from spreading fake news, insisting that it would not “hesitate to seek legal redress to defend its corporate image when the association is deliberately and/or recklessly maligned or injured through unverified reportage.

“The association has in countless media publications stated and repeated Tuesday, June 30, 2020, as the deadline for its final decision on the season after considering all factors, including but not limited to the outcome of the various consultations, discussions and engagements with all our stakeholders such as clubs, sponsors and government,” it concluded.