The world-governing body of football, FIFA, has handed a match-fixing allegation levelled against Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kwesi Nyantakyi back to the Association to handle.
During the 2014 FIFA World Cup, a documentary shown on United Kingdom’s Channel 4 and a publication in the Telegraph newspaper implicated Mr Nyantakyi in a deal to fix Black Stars’ friendly matches.
Though Mr Nyantakyi denied the allegations and announced a law suit against the UK tabloid, FIFA’s security division took over investigation of the matter and on Monday, August 25 came out with its conclusion.
Below is FIFA’s statement:
The investigatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee has concluded a preliminary investigation in relation to alleged match manipulation involving officials of the Ghana Football Association and a players’ agent licensed by the same association.
It followed articles published by UK newspaper The Telegraph between 22-24 June 2014 and the airing of the Dispatches programme “How to fix a football match” on Channel Four on 23 June 2014 that made claims of an alleged case of match manipulation linked to the organisation of international friendly matches involving Ghana’s national team.
The preliminary investigation, conducted in accordance with art. 62 of the FIFA Code of Ethics, included a request for documents and information from the relevant parties.
Based on an analysis of the material, which included the limited portion of the footage made available by the relevant media outlets, and pursuant to the relevant rules established by the FIFA Code of Ethics, the investigatory chamber has decided to refer the matter to the Ghana FA.
In light of the seriousness of the allegations, the investigatory chamber will continue to monitor the investigations and any future proceedings conducted by the competent bodies of the Ghana FA, and reserves its right to revisit its position on this matter at any time.
