The new injunction was served on the GFA on Wednesday after which the FA announced the postponement of Week 1 of the Ghana Premier League.

The letter to Olympics was signed by the GFA’s General Secretary, Isaac Addo.

According to sources, the meeting between the two parties was one of the conditions given by the Accra High Court after Olympics first presented its case to the court.

Olympics was seeking a resolution of a case involving Bechem United and their use of an unqualified player in last season’s Premier League.

However, the court said Olympics and the GFA were to settle the case out of court but instead of meeting, Olympics say the GFA went ahead to hold its Congress which marked the start of the new league season.

That forced the team to go back to court and get another injunction to stop the league season from commencing.

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Source: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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This postponement is as a result of a legal action brought against the Association by Accra Great Olympics Football Club Limited.

The GFA has also indefinitely postponed its much publicized GFA Seminar for the Premier, Division One, Women League clubs, Match Officials and the Media scheduled for Wednesday February 7 at the GSCE in Prampram.

The GFA sincerely apologized to stakeholders for the inconvenience caused.

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Source: Ghana FA

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Seminars before congress – The Executive Committee approved four seminars on Match fixing, Refereeing, Marketing and Media for various interest groups in football ahead of the start of the next season to help improve the game. The seminars will be held on the 6th and 7th of February in Prampram.

Calendar for the next three seasons – The Executive Committee approved the calendar for all competitions in Ghana football for the next three seasons that is –  2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020. The calendar involves the CAF Inter-Club matches, the Ghana Premier League, the MTN FA Cup, Division One League and GHALCA tournament. With CAF restructuring its Inter-Clubs competitions, the calendar will be tweaked further to accommodate the changes when it is made by CAF.

Gala Competition – The Gala will usher in the 2017/2018 football season. The Gala will be an invitational tournament for clubs in the Premier and Division One Leagues. Clubs will be asked to write to the GFA to express interest in participating in the 16-team tournament which will be held in Cape Coast from 3 to 4 February 2018.

Substantive General Secretary – The Executive Committee unanimously approved Mr Isaac Addo as the substantive General Secretary of the Ghana Football Association.

Competitions Department: The General Secretary was tasked to advertise the three positions of the officers to work in the newly-created Competitions Department. The three positions are General Manager, Marketing Manager and Media Officer.

Pitches for the GFA – The Executive Committee approved the proposal of the President for the sod-cutting ceremonies for the construction of the ten StarTimes pitches to begin over the next few weeks. StarTimes’ leadership in Ghana were invited to the meeting and also agreed with the Executive Committee to get the project underway as soon as possible.

The regions targeted are Upper West, Upper East and Brong Ahafo regions as they are in dire need of these pitches to foster the development of the game. Some Regional FAs have already secured the lands for pitches while some are still in talks with landowners.

Young Referees’ Development Programme – A new scheme to help develop new and younger referees for the country will be launched in the coming weeks to encourage young people in the country to take to refereeing. The Secretariat has been tasked to work with the Referees Association of Ghana (RAG) for the launch of this scheme and the training of these young referees. These young referees will in the long term take charge of matches in the Colts Leagues.

African Women’s Championship – The Executive Committee asked the Secretariat to work closely with the LOC of the tournament to ensure Ghana’s successful hosting of the competition which will be held from 17th November to 1st December, 2018.

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Source: Ghana FA

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The decision was announced by the GFA on Wednesday after the Disciplinary Committee sat on the case.

According to the ruling of the Disciplinary Committee, Bechem United was found guilty of three charges of misconduct and breaches of the GFA’s General Regulations.

The breaches occurred on October 22, 2017, which was the final day of the Ghana Premier League season when Bechem United took on Accra Great Olympics in a match which had a huge effect on the survival chances of the two teams.

According to the ruling, Bechem United’s fans were said to have “insulted and intimidated” match officials at the entrance of the Bechem Park. The fans were said to have broken eggs and cursed the match officials.

These acts were in breach of Article 35(1b), 35(3a&c), 35(4), 35(7a&d) and 35(9) of the GFA General Regulations and Article 56, 58 and 66(1&3) of the GFA Disciplinary Code.

The team’s second charge was not allowing media rights holders, StarTimes, to broadcast the match live on television per the agreed schedule between itself and the clubs.

The main route to the stadium was blocked by a broken down truck and the club said it had no idea of the owner of the truck.

But the GFA’s Disciplinary Committee said that the team had the responsibility “to police the marketing rights and Access Rights of the Association. This obligation is very clear and it is therefore not enough for a club to play aloof by claiming they do not know who left the truck blocking the link road to the stadium.”

The Disciplinary Committee stated that the act was in contravention of a breach of Article 35(4), and 35(9) of the GFA General Regulations and Article 66(1&3) of the GFA Disciplinary Code.

The team’s fans were said not to have allowed the StarTimes crew to find alternative means of broadcasting the match and that went against Bechem United in the ruling.

The team’s final infraction had to do with its usage of an unapproved gate when entering the stadium for the match. The Disciplinary Committee stated that the act breached Article 23(4b) of the GFA General Regulations.

Bechem United has 14-days to pay the fine and in the event of failure, the team will forfeit all matches sanctioned by the GFA.
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By: Citi Sports/Ghana

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At the moment, there is no proper regulatory framework for setting up a football academy, a situation that exposes young and desperate footballers to unscrupulous football agents.

GFA president Kwesi Nyantakyi, announcing the move said: “We are also going to review and enhance the regulations of football academies in the country and provide a regulatory framework for the football academies in the country.

Head of Juvenile Football at the Ghana Football Association, Kweku Eyiah, also backed the move which he described as long overdue.

“An academy is supposed to be boots and books but when people come here they are so surprised at the laxity in our system,” he said.

“The academies will need to liaise with the Ghana Education Service and get a proper educational framework.

“So that if one wants to set up an academy, it must be backed by records showing that the children are actually going to school.”

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By: Citi Sports

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Linear Addy remains the only female member of the Executive Committee but her position is not permanent as she is only a representative of the constituent bodies of the Football Association.

But Nyantakyi believes a permanent female seat on the EXCO, will help in the promotion of women’s football in the country.

“Apart from Sanford World Clinics, GFA is the sole sponsor of Women’s football in Ghana. We will continue to support Women’s football at an enhanced level to give more meaning and support to Women’s football,” he said.

“Even though Ms. Linear Addy is the representative for women on the executive committee, she is there as a representative of the constituent body, so if the coaches or referees think that she is had enough of her tenure, they can ask her to step aside.

This is an era that we have to encourage more women,” he added.

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By: Citi Sports Desk

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The league, in recent years, has been hit with several bribery scandals and allegations made towards officials and players alike with some prominent club officials like AshGold chairman Cudjoe Fianoo opening up about being approached by match-fixing syndicates during last season’s campaign.

The GFA, during their executive summit this week, announced that a huge incentive will be given out to anyone who comes out to expose acts of bribery starting from next season’s campaign.

According to GFA President Kwesi Nyantakyi, a proposed amount of GH¢ 20,000 will be given as a reward to anyone who reports acts of bribery and corruption with evidence to the FA.

“When people give bribe, it is both the giver and the receiver who are involved, and until one exposes the other it is very difficult to catch them in the act.

“So we are going to put together an incentive for anyone who comes forward to report any corrupt act,” he said.

“If a referee is approached by a club official, we are encouraging them to report the club official. We are proposing a GH¢ 20,000 reward for anyone who comes forward to report any case of bribery with evidence so we know it is credible.”

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By: Daniel Koranteng/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The comment follows the declarations made by the Vice-Chairman of the Black Stars Management Committee, Wilfried Osei, on Citi FM’s “Sports Panorama” that the non-payment of unclassified payments cost Ghana a place in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Osei explained that the unclassified payments were used for several things including getting referees and match officials to handle Ghana’s matches fairly in the qualifiers.

He stated that such inducement was commonplace on the continent since other countries did same to influence important results in the quest to qualify for the World Cup finals.

However, Ibrahim Saane Daara, spokesperson of the Ghana Football Association, said in an interview on Happy FM on Wednesday that the GFA had never been involved in inducing referees.

“We, as a football association, do not believe in inducement and we have never been involved in bribery. We have never done such a thing before.”

“When a referee is appointed for a match, by default, you expect him to be fair. That is a given.  If and when we do have issues with a referee, there are ways we can proceed. One of such means was the recent protest we filed against South African referee Daniel Bennett. CAF has modalities to deal with referees who do not perform well and we are satisfied with them.”

Saane Daara went on to state that, unclassified payments were normally used for activities such as mobilizing supporters for the Black Stars matches and organise scouting and reconnaissance trips ahead of Black Stars matches.

He explained that these things were valuable and helped the team.

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By: Nathan Quao/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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It said it is asking FIFA for a replay “in order to serve the ends of justice without fear or favour.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”iTEsFQrbpqlUVZlkajKRlbLT7bU75A0E”]The linesman’s flag denied the Black Stars a late winner in the 93rd minute after Raphael Dwamena hit the back of the Ugandan net from a rebound off the goalkeeper.

The referee claimed the striker was in an offside position, although playbacks of the incident indicated otherwise.

Many Ghanaians have taken to social media to vent their anger over the decision, although the goal will not significantly affect the Black Stars’ chances of qualifying for the World Cup.

Black Stars skipper, Asamoah Gyan, said in a tweet that he was furious over the matter, and called on the GFA to protest the referee’s decision.

The GFA in its statement said, the action and several others “have left the GFA with no option than to ask FIFA to examine their performances.”

Read the GFA’s statement below:

Ghana FA lodges FIFA protests over referee in World Cup qualifier in Uganda

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has lodged a protest with FIFA over the performance of referee Daniel Bennett and his assistants Eldrick Adelaide and Steve Marie during the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Uganda on Saturday.

The GFA filed the protest to football’s world governing body, FIFA, immediately after the match at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala. Mr Bennett and assistants denied Ghana a perfect goal in the 93rd minute with television replays showing that it was a perfect goal.

The referee also denied Ghana a penalty earlier in the second-half when Ghana midfielder Frank Acheampong was brought down in the box.

These and several other decisions by the match officials have left the GFA with no option than to ask FIFA to examine their performances.

The GFA respectfully asked FIFA to consider the possibility of a replay in order to serve the ends of justice without fear or favour.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The FA believes the country lacks the requisite finances to properly host two competitions in one year, with Ghana already committing to host the 2018 Women’s Afcon.

Contrary to the FA’s position, the Sports Ministry believe that based on the country’s success in hosting the recently ended Fox WAFU competition and the availability of multiple venues, hosting the CHAN tournament should not be complicated.

Original hosts of the competition, Kenya were stripped of hosting rights after it was revealed that they were behind schedule with regards to stadia readiness and other adjoining facilities.

This position was made clear by the GFA’s Director of Communications Ibrahim Saani Daara when he spoke on Citi Fm’s Sports Panorama.

“It is true that hosting the tournament will yield a lot of benefits for the country.

“But it becomes a little troubling when you factor in the fact that the host nation will have to shoulder for instance the travelling expenses for all participating countries.

“We can also talk about accommodation and feeding as well as everything associated with the tournament.

“We are not sure if the country is in the financial state to shoulder the burden of hosting two tournaments in one year,” he revealed.

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By: Benjamin Nketsia/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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