Mr. Moses Foh Amoaning, a private legal practitioner and a member of the three–man 2014 World Cup Commission of Enquiry, has said that, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been “wrongly briefed” on the autonomy of the Ghana Football Association (GFA).
The President on Wednesday, during an interaction with the media at the Flagstaff House said, the executive arm of government, would not interfere in the administration of football in the country.
“My understanding is that, the rules of Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), makes the GFA an independent organization.
“And that those who are involved in football administration in the country would deal with issues of mismanagement, if there is one. It is a basic rule and FIFA is insistent on that. There should be no executive interference in the administration football anywhere,” the president said.
But according to Mr Foh Amoaning, the president’s view on the autonomy of the Football Association (FA) was wrong adding that, it is not the correct position of international law.
Mr Foh Amoaning who said this in an interview with the GNA Sports on Thursday, noted that the president shouldn’t be deluded into believing that the GFA is autonomous and can’t be controlled.
He said that there is no international law backing the autonomy of Associations, such as GFA and its mother body - FIFA.
“He (president) has not been briefed properly about the autonomy of the GFA. FIFA itself is not autonomous. If you read our report there is a whole section on Ghana’s relationship with FIFA, where we discussed the international law position on the so called autonomy of FIFA.
“We discussed the international law position on the matter. It is not true that any international organisation can be a law on itself. Because in international laws, it is the state parties or countries that have the sovereign power. So if an international association think they can act on their own, it is not true,” he stressed.
“After we submitted our report, the United States government raided the FIFA headquarters and locked some of them up. What is more interventionist than that and why is that FIFA didn’t ban America? They couldn’t because in reality it is the countries that have delegated their powers to them to operate.
“So if the state parties thinks that something is going wrong, they can control these international organisations and that is why FIFA itself is under control.”
Mr Foh Amoaning however admonished the government to consult the 2014 document to get an enlightened perspective on the subject matter.
“Such issues have been captured in the report and the government should study it and know the correct international position on the matter. Because it is not true that FIFA itself is autonomous let alone the GFA ,” he noted.
He said the GFA is a public institution, because it was the only Association that was managing football on behalf of Ghanaians and cannot be free from government intervention if things are being mismanaged there.
“If there is a crime being committed and their accounts are being fraudulently handled, the government can step in and ensure that the right things are done. “
Source: GNA
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Over to you Mr President, and Mr Sports and Youth Minister.
Foh, your piece is really elucidating. I was of the view that these FIFA/GFA guys are untouchable. Your explanation of the basics of International law makes sense to the we the 'un-leanered'. Thus, the radars of EOCO and the now-found Special Prosecutor should be directed towards the GFA for the harm they have caused to Ghanaians; economical, emotional, national pride, shame, disgrace and what have you? May the Omnipotent protect guys like you who are dedicated to the country to assist in nation building
Excellent piece Foh. These gang of charlatans at the FA are seriously destroying Ghana soccer and the earlier we stop them the better. Nigeria took the initiative to intervene and were suspended for 24months. Why can't we do same. The government should listen to what Foh is saying and act decisively. FOH once again thanks and God bless you