Minister maintains position

Honourable Rashid Bawa, Minister of State in charge of Education Youth and Sports (EYS) on Tuesday said he has not backed down from his criticism of the Appeals Committee of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) in the infamous Obuasi Goldfields points deduction saga.

The Minister whose comment was the grounds for the resignation of three permanent members of the Appeals Committee told the GNA Sports that he has no regret for alerting the FA to sit up and critically look at its structures.

The minister who will not comment on the supposed resignation of the three capos said " I did not even have the committee in mind when I made the comment. I was just interested in talking about our structures and the way forward," he insisted.

On whether it was not politically incorrect to meddle in the said decision, as it is being raised in some quarters, the minister said he was convinced he was within his domain to express his sentiments "because even after the supreme court took a decision, everyone has the right to state his opinion or comment on it."

The minister who would not be dragged into any discussion about the actions of the trio who resigned told the GNA that he was only seeking reasons on how the player was okayed by Mr. Ben Koufie , Chairman of the GFA and Mr. Sylvester Mensah of the Premier League Board (PLB) but he and his club has to suffer later through no fault of theirs.

Mr. Bawa said he was indeed confused about the contradiction and as an activist for the progress of the game he thought it was important to seek explanation in the interest of the game.

The Ghana News Agency quoted the minister as having expressed worry and dissatisfaction about the deduction of points from the build up of Goldfields who are now awaiting the world soccer governing body, FIFA , to give interpretation to the rules on the issue.

His statement was the rational behind the resignation of Justice I. R Aboagye, Mr. Nsiah Akuetteh and I. B. Eshun who in a joint letter described the minister's comment as "one calculated to bring the members of the committee into disrepute and public ridicule"

Presently, the GFA has appealed to the three men to rescind their decision while making efforts to appoint new members to handle the countless cases before the committee.