{"id":49161,"date":"2014-09-19T08:05:59","date_gmt":"2014-09-19T08:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=49161"},"modified":"2014-09-19T10:47:21","modified_gmt":"2014-09-19T10:47:21","slug":"gfa-is-accountable-to-government-too-fifa-document-confirms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/gfa-is-accountable-to-government-too-fifa-document-confirms\/","title":{"rendered":"“GFA is accountable to Ghana gov’t too”- Fifa document confirms"},"content":{"rendered":"
–<\/p>\n
A member of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), Mr. Oteng Arthur says that the Ghana Football Association is accountable to the state aside the world football governing body, FIFA.<\/p>\n
Oteng-Arthur, Vice Chair of the PIAC, was speaking to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry looking into Ghana’s World Cup fiasco on Thursday, which was day 22 of the sittings.<\/p>\n
The PIAC is a sub-committee of the Ghana Football Association.<\/p>\n
“Demanding accountability from the FA is not interference because it is enshrined in the statutes of Fifa,” he said, supporting his claim with a Fifa document titled Standard Cooperation Agreement of Fifa<\/em>.<\/p>\n Oteng-Arthur\u00a0educated the gallery on the work of the PIAC as a body ensuring that the public is satisfied with the operations of state-run bodies in various sectors.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”xYbAGDIWszcQRgTFbN08seYAS8tpvsXi”]<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Any legal foundations?<\/strong><\/p>\n The Vice Chair\u00a0told the Commission that the GFA, aside Fifa, could answer questions from the central government and that his assertion was based on a legal guideline from Fifa.<\/p>\n Here is an interaction between himself and\u00a0counsel for\u00a0the commission, Jonathan Acquah.<\/p>\n Acquah:\u00a0<\/strong>“The general impression is that the GFA is an autonomous body and accountable to only FIFA and no other body. You told the Commision that you are a football administrator. Will you say that it is the true position that the GFA is accountable to only FIFA and not to anybody else?”<\/p>\n Oteng Arthur:<\/strong> “My Lord, that is not true.”<\/span><\/p>\n Acquah:<\/strong> “Why would you say that?”<\/p>\n Oteng Arthur:<\/strong> “FIFA has areas where the FA is accountable to it and where it is accountable to the state.”<\/p>\n Acquah<\/strong>: “What is your point of reference? What document or statute or anything makes you take this position?”<\/p>\n Oteng Arthur:\u00a0<\/strong>“My Lord, I came across it in a FIFA document titled ‘Protocol Agreement’ that requires the various football associations and their governments to sign and determine the roles that FIFA and governments can play in the administration of football.<\/p>\n Acquah:<\/strong> “You just told the Commission that FA is not only accountable to FIFA but to government too. That is the position you just espoused.”<\/p>\n Oteng Arthur:\u00a0<\/strong>“Yes, my Lord.”<\/p>\n Acquah:<\/strong> “You say you have a document that makes you take that position. What provisions of that document makes you take that position?”<\/p>\n Oteng Arthur:<\/strong> “My Lord, when it comes to Section 4 article 31, subsection 1, that portion talks about finance and it \u00a0reads: ‘the further object of this agreement is to ensure good management and transparency in the use of financial subsidies and subsidies in kind granted to the association by FIFA, the relevant confederation and any other sporting authority as well as government and local authorities.<\/em>”<\/p>\n Justice Dzamefe:<\/strong> “What does it mean?”<\/p>\n Oteng Arthur:<\/strong> “It means that where there are subsidies granted to the FA, then the FA is bound by the agreement it signed to ensure good management and transparency in the handling of the finances.”<\/p>\n Oteng Arthur also stated that Article 39 of the Protocol Agreement highlights that the FA and government should meet annually to discuss the finances of the FA and where possible, a FIFA official could be invited to the discussions.<\/p>\n Justice Dzamefe inquired if the Ghana Football Association was aware of this provision but Mr. Oteng Arthur could not confirm.<\/p>\n However, the PIAC member revealed that the directive was established by FIFA in 2007 and was\u00a0ratified\u00a0a year later.<\/p>\n Oteng-Arthur, owner of a division two-team called Highlanders FC, also told the Commission that the PIAC, after its inauguration in 2011, had onlt two meetings, a claim that sharply contradicted an earlier testimony by the chairman of the PIAC, Aloysius Dankabe.<\/p>\n