GFA offsets huge financial commitments owed by State

Kwesi Nyantakyi, President of the Ghana Football Association on Tuesday revealed that the sport body was yet to be reimbursed by the State for financing national teams.

The Presidential Commission which started its work in August this year have invited a number of officials from the football family as they probe Ghana's early exit at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Appearing before the Commission, the most senior figure in Ghana football said a huge outlay had been spent on the national teams from its own resources as the sport body have and continues to save the situation.

“We have spent more than GH¢36m over the past eight years on the financing of national teams,” Nyantakyi told the Commission.

“There would have been no excuse for us not to prepare the national teams due to the State's inability to pay what it is supposed to have been paid. That would not be an excuse.”

Expressing his support for transparency, Nyantakyi admitted that the GFA were faced with challenges and pointed out that the paying of salaries to coaches has been done solely by the sport body.

“In 2011, we agreed with the Sports Minister to engage coaches and contracts were signed for two years (2011-2013).

“Head Coaches were contracted to earn $3,000 with the assistants getting $1,000. Government is indebted to the tune of $293,000 but we have managed to reduced it to $175,128,” Nyantakyi said.

“We need enough funds to run at an efficient level but we don't have the resources to do that because of the cost of running it. We are not putting in much but the overriding consideration is that we are poor so the much to add, there maybe not be much.”