President Akufo Addo has revealed that the white paper produced from the evidence gathered by the Dzamefe Commission to serve as a roadmap for the administration of football in the country has been forgotten and is not one of his major worries.

The 2014 White Paper was generated following a commission of enquiry which was set up by former President John Mahama to investigate Ghana’s disastrous Brazil 2014 World Cup Campaign.

As part of its work, the Presidential Commission headed by Justice Senyo Dzamefe uncovered a number of issues, including several cases of alleged embezzlement of state funds as well as the reason behind the infamous airlifting of 3 million dollars to pay Black Stars players.

According to the President, the White Paper hasn’t come before him since he assumed office.

He, however, stated his belief that the Sports Minister would brief him on the report and the recommendations which were made in due course.

“Am I interested in the 2014 white paper? On these matters, truth is usually the best answer. To be honest, I’ve forgottten about the 2014 White Paper. But I have no doubt that my Minister of Sports is fully up to it and will advise in due course what should be the reaction of me and the government to it. But it has not been something that has been very much on my radar,” he said.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports has however failed to make any concrete statement on the implementation of the White paper in their one year in charge.

‘So far, so good’

The President, responding to a question on the performance of Sports Minister, Isaac Asiamah so far, gave his backing to his appointee.

The Minister has come under a lot of flak from sections of the media and sports fans for what they say is an underwhelming first year in charge of the outfit.

However, the President believes that contrary to that opinion, the Mr. Asiamah has performed creditably in his first year in office.

“The output of the Sports Minister, so far so good as far as I’m concerned. If your opinion is different then for the time being on his retention in office, it’s my view that matters.”

The President also stated that given world football governing body FIFA’s rules against governmental interference in the affairs of football federations, the government can’t intervene in alleged cases of mismanagement at the GFA.

He believes that it is up to the managers of football in the country to ensure that such allegations are investigated and persons found guilty sanctioned.

“As far as mismanagement within the Football Association is concerned, my understanding is that GFA by FIFA rules is supposed to be an independent organisation. Those who are involved in football administration in this country will deal with issues of mismanagement,” Nana Addo said.

“I don’t believe it’s in an area where the government should intervene to sort things out if things need to be sorted out. Those in the industry, in the sector, those in football are the ones who are meant to deal with football issues. My understanding is that is the basic rule that FIFA is very insistent on that there should be no executive interference in the administration of football anywhere.”

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By: Benjamin Nketsia & Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘I’ve forgotten about Dzamefe Commission White Paper’ – Nana Addo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The commission was set up after the 2014 World Cup to look into reasons why Ghana failed miserably at the tournament.reasons why Ghana failed miserably at the tournament.

Its members were Justice Senyo Dzamefe, Justice of the Court of Appeal, Chairman; Moses Foh-Amoaning Esq., Lawyer and Sports Administrator, Member, and Kofi Anokye Owusu Darko, a Sports enthusiast.

The commission’s work looked at the team’s preparations, arrangements to send supporters, how money was raised by the then Sports Minister, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, circumstances surrounding how money was flown to the team in Brazil and the reasons behind the confrontation between Sulley Muntari and Moses Armah, an executive member of the Ghana Football Association.

Almost three years after the Commission presented its report, some observers have said that the commission’s public scrutiny of the team has driven sponsors away.

However, in an interview on GH One on June 23, Foh-Amoaning said that the commission’s work had not hurt the team’s image.Amoaning said that the commission’s work had not hurt the team’s image.

He stated that the failure of the state to implement the several recommendations prescribed in the report was rather the challenge to the team.to the team.

“Our work to was to assemble the facts of the situation and come out with the truth so we could move on as a nation. That was what we did and that was what we prescribed.was to assemble the facts of the situation and come out with the truth so we could move on as a nation. That was what we did and that was what we prescribed.

If you read the report, you will see that the things we prescribed have not been done. For instance, we spoke of how money to the national team should be paid. We stated that paying by cash should be abolished. Payments should be done through bank accounts.”

He went on: “We also stated that qualification bonuses should be paid instead of winning bonuses.  So many of the recommendations were meant to redeem the image of the Black Stars.

Ask yourself if any of those recommendations have been implemented and the answer is no.”

In relation to the Black Stars and their bonuses, there has been an attempt by the Sports Ministry to implement a standard bonus regime for the team.

It emerged that the team would get USD 5,000 in winning bonuses for the rest of the AFCON 2019 qualifiers and and the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

This was announced by the deputy Sports Minister, Pius Hadzide in Kumasi a day after Ghana beat Ethiopia 5-0 in the AFCON 2019 qualifier.

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By: Nathan Quao/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Dzamefe Commission’s work not affecting Black Stars’- Foh Amoaning appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.