Ghana FA President Kwesi Nyantakyi received a fresh global credibility boost on Wednesday as he passed his second FIFA Integrity Check to enable him stand in next week’s FIFA Council elections in Ethiopia.
This is the second time the astute Ghanaian football administrator has passed the stringent FIFA Integrity Check to enable him stand elections to stay on the world governing body’s board.
This clears the path for Nyantakyi to face Tanzania’s Leodegar Tenga for the sole slot for Anglophone countries within CAF after Zambian legend Kalusha Bwalya withdrew from the race.
The election will be held in Addis Ababa on 16 March and the outright winner will gain the position on the FIFA Council.
Nyantakyi is among ten individuals approved by FIFA’s Governance Committee to stand the election for various positions on the FIFA Council.
A statement by CAF on Wednesday revealed that Nyantakyi was among the ten people cleared with three withdrew from the race.
The revelation is a huge boost for the integrity of the lawyer as the clearance from FIFA Review Committee establishes that he has a clean image.
This is the biggest evidence yet over the clean record of the affable leader of the GFA whose critics in the local media have tried desperately hard over the years to give him a bad image.
Nyantakyi was cleared to stand FIFA Council election but yet some cast doubt whether he would pass the new test.
Failure to pass the Integrity Check could have automatically disqualified Nyantakyi from the contest.
This information from FIFA comes as a boost for Nyantakyi as several football leaders have recently failed the Integrity Check.
Under the new FIFA reform laws, persons who hold or seek to hold an official FIFA position, must undergo an integrity check prior to their election or re-election.
The candidates are required to fulfill eligibility checks which hinge on the reputation and conduct of the individual concerned.
The candidate should not have had a sports governing body ever imposing any disciplinary or similar sanction or measure on him in the past for actions which amount to violations of the rules of conduct as set out by FIFA.
The potential FIFA Council member should also not have been previously convicted by a final decision of any intentional indictable offence or of any offence corresponding to a violation of the rules of conduct.
The checks were carried out by the FIFA Review Committee in accordance with Annexe 1 of the new FIFA Governance Regulations.
Nyantakyi has been subjected to several attacks from a section of the media over several unsubstantiated accusations of corruption.
His vocal critics used a half-baked investigation by the UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph over match fixing to accuse him even though he was cleared by FIFA and the Ethics Committee of the GFA.
The 2014 World Cup Commission also tried to pin down Nyantakyi but the GFA has rejected the claims and the local governing body is fighting claims of any wrongdoing in the Court of Appeal.
He is currently in court with two local journalists he claims have traduced his name in their reportage.
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