Kwesi Nyantakyi, president of the Ghana Football Association, is suspected of several corruption offenses.

The controversy swells a little more in Ghana where the government announced Thursday, June 7 the dissolution of the Ghana Football Federation. The latter is at the heart of a corruption scandal, whose “massive nature” pushes the government to this radical measure.

This is a story that is a task in the Ghanaian football landscape, even more so with the 2018 Women’s CAN at the end of the year.

The highest instances of football are affected by a corruption scandal. The controversy is such that the government of Ghana has made a decision this Thursday, June 7: the Ghana Football Federation will be dissolved.

The government, carried by Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Minister of Information, has “decided to take immediate action for the dissolution of the Ghana Football Federation” because of “the massive nature of alleged corruption”. Everything was packed from Wednesday.

President Kwesi caught in the act of corruption

In Accra, an explosive documentary was premiered on Wednesday, June 6, at the International Conference Center of the capital.

His name: “Number 12”. It was directed by Anas Aremeyaw Anas, an undercover journalist with his team, and known in his country for revealing numerous corruption cases. He and his associates investigated for two years.

In “Number 12”, Ghana’s top footballers are targeted, including the most famous of them: Kwesi Nyantakyi, the president of the Ghana Football Association (FA Ghana).

Trapped by investigative journalists, Kwesi Nyantakyi appears to be proposing lucrative contracts to so-called “investors”.

The leader proposes, for example, $11 million to make it easier for these “investors” to gain access to key government figures in order to win major contracts. During meetings in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Nyantakyi also suggests the creation of a society screen that he would lead in the shadows against large commissions.

The said screen company would be responsible for the sponsors of the Ghana Premier League, the elite championship of Ghana.

The President of the Republic has filed a complaint himself

Other leaders of FA Ghana as well as referees also appear in the documentary. Some accept bribes to influence the selection of players, or to rig the outcome of some league games.

At the end of May, the police had already opened an investigation against Kwesi Nyantakyi. The President of the Republic Nana Akufo-Addo filed a complaint after consulting the documentary of Anas Aremeyaw Anas, the latter has since been threatened with death.

The head of state accused Kwesi Nyantakyi of “fraudulently using the name and office of the President” for personal matters.

After the shock wave, what future for Ghanaian football?

According to Teteh Ahadji, RFI correspondent, Ghana Club Association President Kodjo Fianou said he was “very shocked” by all these revelations. “I miss the words. This case is very bad for Ghanaian football,” he said before the government announced the breakup.

Stunned, Kodjo Fianou added, “I am shocked when I see in the documentary a member of my own staff in the act of corruption. I really do not know what to say. It was first that I recover from the shock.”

Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, the Minister of Information, assures that “the government will ensure that the necessary reforms are implemented urgently to improve the governance of football in the country”.