Let’s stop undermining one another — Nyantakyi

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi, has urged Ghanaians to support their own to reach higher heights and desist from the practice of undermining one another.

Mr Nyantakyi made the remarks after indicating his intention to extend his mandate as the GFA president in next year’s election to enhance his chances of succeeding the incumbent President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Issa Hayatou.

Nyantakyi’s ambitions, admonition

Giving evidence on the third and final day before the Justice Dzamefe Commission at the packed-to-capacity Media Centre of the Accra Stadium, the fluent FA president said, “let’s support our own regardless of where the person is coming from.”

“When people are going up, let’s push them; when people are succeeding, let’s ask them the secret behind their success, but you hardly see that in our society,’ he lamented.

He said his current position as a CAF executive committee member could pave way for another Ghanaian since he was there to first and foremost serve the nation’s interest.

Nyantakyi did not hide his intention to contest for the CAF presidency in future when Mr Moses Foh-Amoaning asked whether he had any such ambition.

“Issa Hayatou and I have a very close working relationship. I’ll support him as long as he remains the CAF president.

“I’m sure when he leaves the scene, I could be a potential candidate, “Nyantakyi declared to the pleasure of the FA officials present.

 In another breath, the FA boss reiterated his determination to hold on to power till he is ready to call it quits.

He likened football to the parliamentary system of government where Members of Parliament are retained so long as they perform.

“The football system is like the parliamentary system of government; as long as you perform you will continue. There are MPs who have been MPs since 1993.

‘We have to respect the sovereignty of the sport. You are not there because of your might or your handsomeness or your wealth. You are there because of your performance,” Nyantakyi stressed.

“It’s better to keep somebody who is performing than to bring somebody who will come and do guess work. I know that at the right time I’ll leave.

“It is the sport that has put me there, and when my time comes, I’ll let you know,” he emphasised with a typical laughter.

When Mr Foh-Amoaning again wanted to know Nyantakyi’s reaction to the harsh criticisms the GFA has been attracting of late, he said though he was one of the most criticised individuals in the country, he was not too worried about it since he knew how important it was to listen to dissenting views.

He told the commission that what he thought was not acceptable were insults and defamation of character well orchestrated to tarnish his image.

He threatened to take somebody to court one day to deter others who pursued that vicious agenda.

Appearance fee, honorarium 

He agreed with the commission that the management honorarium concept could be reviewed, same as a one-off qualification bonus for the various national teams instead of the current practice of paying qualification bonus at every stage of the qualifiers.

When Justice Dzamefe sought his view about the payment of appearance fee, the GFA president explained that the phenomenon was not peculiar to Ghana but was the practice by all African countries which had participated in the FIFA World Cup, as well as some European countries.

He disclosed that at a recent meeting, FIFA hinted of its intention to pay the appearance fee directly to the players or get a bank to transfer the money to the players to reduce the frequent off-pitch incidents involving African teams.

In response to a question by the commission chairman as to whether  Sulley Muntari and Kevin-Prince Boateng who missed the third match deserved the full appearance fee, Nyantakyi insisted they still deserved it since the appearance fee covered all the three matches. 

Kwasi Appiah’s package 

When the commission sought to know the details of Coach Kwasi Appiah’s contract termination, he simply said the GFA lawyers were dealing with it.

Other remuneration

He further revealed that both players and GFA officials took $5,000 as appearance fee for the Black Stars’ international friendlies and promised to furnish the commission with the list of friendlies, match fees and names of agents who organised them.

Mr Nyantakyi also stated that each of the three scouts and the extra technical staff who were contracted by the FA to assist the official 10-man technical team also received a one-off honorarium of $12,000, while others such as the Media Officer, Ibrahim Sannie Daara, and the acting GFA General Secretary, Mr Emmanuel Gyimah, enjoyed $5,000 plus an undisclosed top-up from the management honorarium.

Recommendations

Mr Nyantakyi suggested the need for the state to take a look at infrastructure in the various regions to develop grassroot football as the FA tried to restructure colts football nationwide.

He thanked the commission profusely for giving him the opportunity to explain the issues and correct misconceptions on the minds of some people.

Tony Baffoe, Becca 

The General Secretary of the Professional Footballers Association of Ghana (PFAG), Anthony Baffoe, who made history in Brazil as the first black man to play the role of a general match co-ordinator of any World Cup final, suggested the need for former internationals to be actively involved in the administration of the game in the country.

He pointed out the need to transform the Stars welfare officer into a team director or co-ordinator in order to have more responsibilities, while cautioning the GFA to suspend the introduction of the code of conduct for the Black Stars till after AFCON 2015 and start it from the junior teams so the players would grow with it.

He stressed that the GFA required a proper technical directorate to structure the game and coaching programmes, as well as infrastructural development, construction of good pitches, among others facilities.

Justice Dzamefe later asked him to present a paper on the PPAG’s recommendations to assist the commission in its final report.

Female artiste, Rebecca Akosua Acheampomaa Acheampong, aka Becca, who performed in Brazil as an ambassador, described it as a beautiful experience which gave her an opportunity to promote Ghana at the World Cup.

Sitting resumes next Tuesday.