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Even as Ghana continues to mourn because of the unfortunate passing of His Excellency Professor J.E.A. Mills, footy-ghana.com now brings you eleven of his top football quotes. He will be remembered for being a passionate sportsman and so, as a means of remembering him, here are his most notable quotes. ** On what is now known as �Muntakagate� or the Muntaka scandal����. 1. �On this issue, are we saying that this is the first time Ministers of State have gone abroad with girlfriends? This is the first time that Ministers of State have infringed the law, have spent State money on themselves? We are doing something different. This morning I realized that many of the newspapers have given prominence to various assessments of our one year in office, the successes that we have been able to chalk, made references to the challenges but I believe that the overall impression is that we have done well.� ** Speaking before the Black Stars� first game of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa��� 2. �I will be at the opening ceremony and I will also stay to watch the first match of the Black Stars against Serbia. Kicked out? Well, they are not going to be kicked out of the tournament so the question will not arise. People have various interpretations of their performance against Holland. Some say they were very careful so that they do not sustain any injury and as a sportsman I tend to believe this version. I think that they are reserving themselves because it was their first practice match and I think that when they go to South Africa, there situation will be entirely different; they are playing to win�� ** Motivating national athletes and sportsmen with lunch at the Castle����.. 3. �Yes I organized lunch for them at the Castle gardens about a week and half ago before they left and I advised them to know they are going to bear aloft the flag of Ghana to represent our nation and they must give off their best. And after all, they must remember they are sportsmen and have to play in accordance with the rules, exhibit fair play, determination, and courage but know that at the end of the day, you can never predict what is going to happen.� ** On prayers for the Black Stars before the 2010 World Cup�����.. 4. �Oh certainly, before they left we prayed for them and it will be a continuous affair and I will ask all Ghanaians to pray for them and even all Africans. I believe that members of the religious communities or bodies are seriously praying for the Black Stars and I know that they themselves are praying for themselves. I know that the good lord will listen to our prayers.� ** The President�s experiences and emotions during the Ghana v Uruguay match������. 5. �During your match with Uruguay, I happened to attend an ECOWAS Heads of State meeting in Cape Verde. Now whiles you were playing, I didn�t know whether it was Ghana playing or it was Africa which was playing. Indeed all the Heads of State without any exception were solidly behind the Black Stars but let me make a confession. There was one Head of State who at the last minute lost the courage to watch the penalty kicks and you can imagine who it was but as far as that Head of State was concerned, the penalties kicks did not matter. We had already won; we had already won the match so it was not necessary.� ** The President compares constant change at Ministry of Youth and Sports to taking penalties����� 6. �Four Ministers in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the reason is that every Minister is sent there to execute a particular program. When the person finishes, I know who to send there for the next particular program. It�s in bits. It�s like taking the penalties; you bring somebody first, takes the penalty, he finishes and sits there. It is strategic�� ** The President pledges support for the Ghana Football Association; says his name is �valueless���.. 7. �The GFA, let me say here and now that I would want to commend Kwesi Nyantakyi and his colleagues for the work that they have done for mother Ghana. Indeed, I have nothing against them. When it was time for the World Cup they themselves will acknowledge when they rushed to my office, we did the very best that we could but especially as Sports Writers, you should acknowledge and realize that Sports politics is second to none and I�m in a position to know. There are some who arrogate to themselves powers that they do not have� Every second the President is saying this; the President is saying that. My name you cannot sell it for even One cedi; it is gone, it�s been devalued.� ** The President clears up EOCO confusion�������.. 8. �Now something happened for which we took the flak. Let me explain that it was not our intention to cause any confusion within the GFA. Whatever I did, I did it in the best of faith. It was a mishap and what I thought I was doing was to try to help Ghana to fill a lacuna which appeared to exist. It turned out that things were not the way they seemed to me. My only regret is that if my attention had been drawn to this, as a sportsman; somebody who is familiar with Sports administration, I would have taken the right decision. Ask my colleagues, very often I give directives to them they come back and say Mr. President, this we cannot do. They will give you reasons. I believe that we are all engaged in a common endeavour so those who have concluded that we are trying to destroy GFA; we are trying to destroy sports� What happened to EOCO had nothing to do with us as government. In the end, we had this matter resolved. My appeal to all of us not only sportsmen, to my brothers and sisters lets credit each other with good faith. When people are dealing with you, you will find that some have a hidden agenda. When we have hidden agendas, we cannot as a country progress�� ** After the Black Stars returned from the 2012 African Nations Cup in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea������� 9. "At the risk of being accused of interfering in football administration, I was going to suggest that we need to teach them (Black Stars) how to take penalties..� ** When the FIFA World Cup trophy was brought to Ghana on tour before the 2010 World Cup������.. 10. "�Now I want to say something to FIFA, I'm giving this trophy back to you but it�s on loan, after the World Cup, it is going to come back here" ** President talks up his expertise in sports administration�errrm, with a sacking along the way�����. 11. "Everybody knows or should know that I have been involved with sports for years. I was a performer myself and when it comes to sports administration, I have been involved in all kinds of Sports administrations. I have been chairman of the Sports Council, Chief Executive, Chairman of the Black Stars, Hockey� The Ghana Olympic Committee that you are talking about, I used to be the first vice chairman until I was sacked�"