May 28

DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Sports
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
15
Akufo-Addo must clear
the FA — Rev. Osei Kofi
BY ANNETTE S. YEBOAH
FOOTBALL LEGEND Reverend
Osei Kofi has pleaded with President
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-
Addo to undertake a clean-up
exercise at the Ghana Football Association
(GFA) after the showing of the exposé
on Ghana football contained in the Anas
Amereyaw Anas tape on Wednesday, June 6,
2018.
According to him, the exercise can be
done if the President leads the campaign to
change the constitution that governs the laws
of the GFA.
Rev Osei Kofi told the DAILY HER-
ITAGE in Accra on Friday that the President
should not allow those who are owners
of football clubs in the country to run the af-
•Reverend Osei Kofi
fairs of the FA anymore.
He said the culture of owners of clubs
functioning as executives of the FA had not
been healthy for Ghana football as that had
rather contributed to the breeding of corruption
in the people’s game.
The football legend noted that “there is
nowhere in the world that a football administrator
owns a club so there is a free and fair
officiating of the game because they are independent.
It is wrong for them to say that if
you do not owe a club you cannot become a
member of the FA.”
Reverend Osei Kofi, who is a long-time
critic of Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi, the current
GFA president, said he was happy with the
work of the investigative journalist Anas to
expose the corrupt officials at the FA.
He expressed the belief that if the work of
Anas would bring change and revolutionise
the game in Ghana, then he is all for it as it
would help correct the bad image of the association.
The former Black Star player said that it
was an insult to President Akufo-Addo for
someone to say he has the president in his
pocket.
“I am waiting to watch the video but any
attempt to shield any official captured on tape
for alleged wrong doing will lead to a massive
demonstration in the country. The GFA president
is 13 years in office and a total of 12
ministers have been sacked from the Ministry
of Youth and Sports; why is Nyantakyi still in
office?” he said.
Mr Nyantakyi was interrogated for close to
five hours by the Criminal Investigations Department
of the Ghana Police Service after he
was accused of using the President's name
and office for fraudulent activities.
Komatsu commits to rugby development in Ghana
GHANA RUGBY and the national
rugby team, the Ghana Eagles, invited
the General Manager of
Panafrican Equipment, Mr Tim
Callaghan, to the Secretariat in Osu-
Accra to share the 2018 Rugby Africa
Bronze Cup with the company in appreciation
of the enormous contribution
of Panafrican towards the
development of Ghana Rugby.
Komatsu became the main sponsor
of Ghana Rugby in September
2017 when the company was introduced
to the Union by a former
Ghana Eagle, Mr Dan Hoppe.
Since then Komatsu has extended
support to Ghana Rugby to such an
extent that the hosting of the Bronze
Cup would not have been possible
without their support, according to
the President of Ghana Rugby, Mr
Herbert Mensah.
In a post on his Facebook page,
Mensah had the following to say:
“Sports is big business and requires
significant support and funding.
At Ghana Rugby, from the
outset, we planned and worked
strategically to climb the ladder and
win off-field in order to gain the respect
of our governing body and to
attract sponsors and to win on the
field.
As administrators, the winning
off-the-field is everything as the legitimacy
provides the platform for attracting
all-important capital and
support.
Ghana Rugby's association with
Panafrican has been and is invaluable
and when their Boss, Tim Callaghan,
came to discuss the possibility of extending
their association with
Ghana Rugby the senior players
and coaches presented him
with the Bronze Cup Trophy.
Tim shocked all of us
when he confirmed that
Panafrican had made two massively
important scrummaging
machines for Ghana Rugby
and others would be forthcoming.
We can now look forward
to preparations for the Africa
7s in October, The Silver Cup
in 2019 and the Africa Ladies
7s also in 2019 with greater
hope!
To date, The
Golden Tulip, Gino
and Interplast have
also been significant
supporters of Ghana
Rugby!”
Panafrican’s
Callaghan said that
the Group is proud
to be associated with
Ghana Rugby and
that the trust they
placed in its President,
Herbert Mensah,
paid off
handsomely with the
winning of the
Bronze Cup.
“Panafrican/Komatsu
derive much
value from its operations
in Ghana and
our association with
Ghana Rugby is one
way of showing our
“Sports is big business and
requires significant support
and funding. At Ghana
Rugby, from the outset, we
planned and worked
strategically to climb the
ladder and win off-field...”
commitment to the country
and to helping Ghana Rugby
to instil the essential character-building
values of rugby
in the youth taking part in
the sport in Ghana,”
Callaghan said.
Panafrican/Komatsu also
indicated that the Group is
keen to get involved in the
development side of Rugby
in Ghana with regards to
both youth development
through the World Rugby
‘Get Into Rugby’ programme
and the development of
women in Ghana Rugby.
• Mr Herbert Mensah, President of Ghana Rugby, sharing
the 2018 Rugby Africa Bronze Cup with Mr Tim Callaghan,
General Manager of the Panafrican Equipment Group
Callaghan said he looked forward
to a long-term relationship between
Panafican/Komatsu and Ghana
Rugby and that the Group would be
entering into negotiations with the
President, Mr Mensah, in the near
future.
Ghana Rugby achieved a series of
accolades in fewer than four years
since Mensah and his administration
took over on June 5, 2014.
The Union brought in a series of
governance and administrative measures
to ensure compliance with
World Rugby requirements. In addition,
it managed to successfully host
and win the 2017 Rugby Africa Regional
Challenge - West 1 by beating
both Benin and Togo in May
2017.
Shortly after this victory, World
Rugby acknowledged the efforts of
the Union by awarding it Full Membership
of World Rugby on May
10, 2017. This step opened the
doors for Ghana rugby to seriously
pursue Mensah’s vision of taking
Ghana Rugby to higher levels towards
entering the global stage of
rugby in terms of World Rugby
tournaments and the Olympics.
In October 2017 it managed to
get a ranking for the first time on
the Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens circuit.
The Bronze Cup win ensured
that Ghana Rugby qualified for the
Rugby Africa Silver Cup in 2019, a
step that brings it closer to the Gold
Cup and to a shot to qualify for the
Rugby World Cup.