Showdown! GFA's Appeals Committee Faces Real Test Case

Trouble seems to be lurking in the corridors of Ghana football as officials of Zaytuna United FC are hell bent on exposing the rot that has built up in the administration of the game in the country.

Investigations by the Graphic Sports point to the fact that the disciplinary contest between Zaytuna and Real Tamale United (RTU) over the alleged ineligibility of Togolese footballer Komi Adzagba is far from over.

Documents sighted by the Graphic Sports, which will soon be put before the GFA Appeals Committee by Zaytuna, reveal fresh and incriminating evidence of how Komi Adzagba succeeded in playing for two national football associations at the same time in one season.

Last week, the GFA Disciplinary Committee dismissed a protest by Zaytuna against RTU over the fielding of Komi/Kwame Adzagba, who allegedly played in their crucial last match of the Onetouch Premier League without a valid International Transfer Certificate (ITC) and residence and work permits as required by the GFA regulations.

RTU won the controversial 30th week fixture 2-1 at the Sunyani Coronation Park.

The Disciplinary Committee held that the player possessed a valid Ghanaian passport which proves he was a Ghanaian and did not require an ITC, as was argued by Zaytuna's legal team at the hearing.

But as per the fresh evidence, which we are told Zaytuna are determined to table at the appeals hearing, they are seeking that Komi/Kwame Adzagba allegedly registered for two different national associations within the same season with forged documentation and illegal nationality switch.

Documents in our custody suggest that the player used surreptitious means to acquire two different Ghanaian passports, the first of which was obtained through the assistance of some officials at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MOESS) and an official of GHALCA.

There are also documents to show that not only did Adzagba change his name and that of his parents in his application for the passports, but also used different signatures.

Documents obtained from the Togolese FA also show that the player was duly registered as Adzagba Komi for division one side, Asko de Kara.

In fact, all three registration cards (1997, 1998 and 2004) bore the same name and signature, indicating his nationality as Togolese.

His Togolese birth certificate indicates he was born at Kpalime in Togo on December 31, 1974 (same particulars in his Togo Federation cards), but has a different date of birth (September 9, 1979) in his Ghanaian passports.

Of the many mind-boggling issues to be contended is how one player could be playing in two different leagues under different national federations almost at the same time.

Certified team sheets of Asko de Kara show that Adzagba featured in six league matches for the club in the Togolese championship.

In fact, at the time RTU applied for the player’s services as per their letter of 7th August, 2007 (which did not even fall within the requisite period of registration), the player was still actively featuring in the Togolese league.

Another highly contentious issue to be unravelled is the player's possession of two Ghanaian passports issued in 2002 and 2004 in addition to a fictitious Ghanaian voter ID bearing the name Abdul Aziz Kwame Adzagba.

Also revealing is the fact that in each passport application form, different names were indicated for his parents (Kojo Adzagba and Felix Adzagba; Ama Adzogble and Dzifa Dzovakpor for the father and mother respectively in the two instances).

Documents obtained from the Ministry of Interior also indicate that the player at the centre of the controversy obtained his first Ghanaian passport through the support of the MOESS and the application form endorsed by two officials of GHALCA (names withheld), on October 14, 2002.

On October 14, 2002, a PRO of the Ministry (name withheld), wrote a request letter to the Director of Passport introducing Adzagba as a member of the Black Stars who needed a passport urgently to enable him travel to Sierra Leone for a national assignment the following day.

In fact, the said PRO endorsed the passport application form on behalf of the minister, which was attached to the request letter.

Passport office documents also indicate that another official of the Ministry (name withheld) collected the new passport on behalf of the player.

But ironically, the player was neither a member of the Black Stars nor was he part of the team that travelled to Freetown to play the Leone Stars.

All these new facts, including the fact that Komi Adzagba’s name failed to feature among the list of 36 naturalised foreigners by the government on February 9, 2007, and which were published in the national dailies of February 10, 2007, point to a real showdown at the Appeals Committee when Zaytuna enter for fresh hearing.

Story by Maurice Quansah