[contextly_sidebar id=”TljvtKeQHkIQ075G5iTNVoBnoFkyshv2″]Nyantakyi was approved by the CAF Executive Committee on Monday during its first meeting under the reign of CAF’s new President Ahmad Ahmad in Bahrain.

Constant Omari of the DR Congo was named as the 2nd Vice President after the two nominations were approved by the Executive Committee.

Nyantakyi has been serving as a CAF executive committee member for almost a decade and was voted on the FIFA Executive Council for the second time after securing maximum votes in Addis Ababa in March.

Nyantakyi becomes the second most powerful person in African football and the first Ghanaian to rise to such position of power in African football.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports congratulated him in tweet from their handle on Monday morning.

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By: Citi Sports Desk

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The federation president says shortlisted will be interviewed this week by the panel set up by the federation to interview coaches. Nyantakyi made this claim on Wednesday even though the GFA has not announced the shortlisted coaches for the vacant position.

However widespread local media reports suggest five coaches have been shortlisted for the job which has become vacant following the departure of former Chelsea coach Avram Grant. Media reports are claiming 132 coaches are scrambling to replace Grant, who left after the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.

Reports claim to coaches including Manchester United legend and former Valencia coach Gary Neville, Harry Redknapp and ex-Brazilian left-back Roberto Carlos have slapped in their CV’s.

Only four local coaches are reported to have applied for the job with fans’ favourite Kwesi Appiah enjoying massive media backing to return as Black Stars coach. Ghana FA president Nyantakyi says interview process will begin next week.

“The interview for the Black Stars coach’s position will begin this week,” Nyantakyi said in an interview with Inside African Football. Government has hinted that there is no money to pay an expatriate coach to put the Khartoum SC trainer in the driving seat to win the race.

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By Rahman Osman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Mr. Nyantakyi, who is an incumbent member of the current FIFA Council, is eligible to contest for a slot on the council after passing an integrity check carried out by the Governance Committee in conformity with article 27.5 (d) of the Governance regulations.

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.

And failure to pass the check would have disqualified the CAF executive member.

Below are the candidates who have been confirmed as eligible to contest for slots on the FIFA Council:

1. Mr. Issa Hayatou (Presidency CAF and vice-president FIFA Council)
2. Mr. Ahmad (Presidency CAF and vice-president FIFA Council)
3. Mr. Constant Omari Selemani (member of the FIFA Council)
4. Ms Lydia Nsekera (member of the FIFA Council)
5. Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi (member of the FIFA Council)
6. Mr. Leodeger Chilla (member of the FIFA Council)
7. Mr. Almamy Kabele Camara (member of the FIFA Council)
8. Mr. Hany Abo Rida (member of the FIFA Council)
9. Mr. Tarek Bouchamaoui (member of the FIFA Council)
10. Mr. Augustin Sidy Diallo (member of the FIFA Council)

The following members Associations have withdrawn nominations for the following persons:

1. Chabur Goc Alei (South Sudan)
2. Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia)
3. Daniel Alexander Jordaan (South Africa)

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Source: Ghana FA

The post FIFA clears Kwesi Nyantakyi for Executive Council elections appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He said players were not selected for the national team because they were in the foreign or local league, but purely on competence.

Mr. Nyantekyi said the most important thing is that, all the players were Ghanaians, regardless of where they ply their trade.

“We are all striving for the good of Ghana, to present a good team that will bring victory to Ghana to restore our honour. Let us stop dividing the team into foreign and local players.”

“The criterion for choosing the players is for the player to be a Ghanaian first of all and should be competent, that’s all,” he noted.

This was in response to questions from the media at a press conference, as to why there was no single local player in the provisional 26-man squad named by the coach for the 2017 AFCON.

Coach Avram Grant added that, “I’m always positive-minded when going for a tournament and the only concern now is how to win the trophy and not whether a player is local or foreign. Competence is what I want”

He said he thought about it over and again before coming out with this squad and therefore urged the media to stop creating discriminatory atmosphere of local and foreign players adding, “a local player today might be an international player in the next season so who is a local player?,” he enquired.

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Source: GNA

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The GFA President is expected to touch down at 12:30 p.m. at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, where he will briefly interact with the media before proceeding with the welcome entourage to the headquarters of the Ghana Football Association at 2:00 p.m.

At the GFA, a short welcome ceremony will be held in his honour by the football fraternity, including staff of the GFA.

In a closely-contested elections held on Thursday in Cairo to elect two new African representatives to Fifa Council, Nyantakyi polled 31 votes to go through alongside Guinean Almamy Kabele, who polled 37 votes.

Madagascar’s Ahmad missed out narrowly with 30 votes whiles Senegal’s Augustin Senghor polled 9 votes.

The new FIFA Council replaces the erstwhile Fifa Executive Committee, which was disbanded following the recent reforms in FIFA. Nyantakyi is also a member of the Executive Committee of CAF.

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Source: GFA

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Mr. Nyantakyi, who is also a CAF Executive Committee member secured one of the two slots available for CAF on the highest decision making committee at FIFA.

He becomes the first Ghanaian to serve in that position following the election in Egypt capital, Cairo on Thursday.

Mr. Nyantakyi polled 31 votes, one more than his closest challenger, Ahmad of Madagascar to win the seat.

He joins CAF’s Vice President, Almamy Kabele Camara of Guinea as the two elected CAF members to join FIFA’s council.

The FIFA cabinet was expanded as part of reforms by new president Gianni Infantino.

New members of the of the cabinet will serve till March 2017 before another round of elections will be held at the 2017 CAF Congress in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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