SWAG calls for constitutional reforms in Ghana football

Accra, Oct. 24, GNA - The Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) has said there was the need for reforms in the constitution of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to reflect the modern trend in the administration of football and to avoid recurrence of the current power crisis in the GFA.

The association has, therefore, suggested a constitutional reform that will make the chairman of the Management Board of GFA an automatic head of the Executive Council.

Mr Ebo Quansah, President of SWAG, made the call at the 29th Annual SWAG Awards Night held in Accra on Saturday.

He said there is the need for a complete overhaul of the structures of the GFA to enable it function more effectively.

The call was made following the recent impasse between the chairman of the management board of the GFA, Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe and the Executive Council in which the latter is seeking to impeach the former over statements he allegedly made against GFA.

Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe in an attempt to prevent the council from impeaching him sent the matter to a High Court in Accra. The Court placed an injunction on the council from impeaching Dr Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe.

The SWAG president described the current structure of the Executive Council as inimical to the progress of Ghana soccer.

Mr Quansah said the current composition of the Executive Council, which is made up of 37 members supervising the activities of a five-man management board of the GFA was irrelevant.

He said: "The administration of football at the secretariat of the GFA at the moment is in so much chaos due to the current impasse between the two parties and this has made it impossible to run football on a sound footing."

Mr Quansah expressed worry that football administrators were rather concentrating on a power play instead of finding solutions to the problems affecting the national teams and the local league. He said the association views the current impasse as an unhealthy development since football was not administered in an atmosphere of rancour and bitterness.

Mr Quansah was however of the opinion that the decision of Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe to take the matter to court was unprecedented in the history of Ghana football and this will rather opened the floodgates for series of litigations that could paralyse soccer. On the senior national team, the Black Stars, Mr Quansah called on officials of the GFA to employ the services of a competent coach to handle the team to ensure that the team qualified for the 2006 World Cup.

"We cannot continue to lay claims on the fact that we are a top football nation without going to the World Cup." Mr Quansah said. He said as Ghana prepared to host the Nations Cup in 2008, there was the need for the government to put in place the right mechanism to ensure that the nation puts up a good show.

"Hard work is about to come, the whole world would be looking at us and the world of sports is urging authorities to provide the infrastructures that will reflect modern trend in football." Mr Quansah expressed his appreciation to corporate bodies and individuals who helped in the organisation of the event.