GFA Aspirants Race Against Time

The suspense-filled Ghana Football Association (GFA) elections entered the most intriguing phase on Monday as all known presidential aspirants picked their nomination forms in a frantic bid to beat the Friday deadline.

According to Daily Graphic investigations, all the candidates secured their forms online as of Tuesday, obviously to buy time, while promising to meet all the requirements without sweat.

When contacted yesterday, Wilfred Kweku Osei Palmer, the President of Tema Youth, was busily going through the nomination process, same as Fred Pappoe, a former GFA vice-president and a director of Great Olympics. They both promised that it would not be a bother getting five GFA members to endorse their candidature as required by Article 13 of the current GFA statutes.

Though efforts to get other known candidates such as Kurt Okraku, George Afriyie and Nana Yaw Amponsah hit a snag, their close associates confirmed they were all deep in the process of putting the necessary documents together to enable them meet the 4 p.m. deadline on Friday.

Similarly, an official of Medeama disclosed that the club’s Board Chairman, Dr Toni Aubynn, had downloaded the forms for both the presidency and the Executive Council and was still contemplating on which one to settle.

The source said though many people in the football fraternity and beyond believed Dr Aubynn was the best candidate for the GFA top post at this point in time, they thought his decision came at a time the other candidates had covered much grounds in their campaign, hence the move to seek a Premier League slot to serve on the Executive Council (ExCo).

Dr Aubynn, board chairman of Medeama for the past eight years, was instrumental in securing the five-year Gold Fields Ghana Limited sponsorship which propelled the Black Stars to their maiden FIFA World Cup in Germany 2006.

Many believed his presence on the ExCo could inspire confidence in the corporate world to invest in Ghana Football again.

Apart from the president who will be elected at the GFA’s Extraordinary Congress on October 25, other available ExCo slots being vied for are Premier League (five), Division One (three), Regional Football Associations (two) and a woman from the Elite Women’s Clubs.

After the filing of nominations, the successful nominees will be subjected to vetting by the three-man Normalisation Committee made up of Dr Kofi Amoah, Naa Odofoley Nortey and Samuel Osei Kuffour in accordance with the new GFA Statutes and Regulations on Elections.