Kwasi Nyantakyi, GFA Boss
President of second division football club, Asafo United, Mr. George Papamikidis, has accused Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi of condoning and abetting corruption in the Central Regional Football Association.
According to him, he could not fathom why the GFA President would sit unconcerned whiles the Central regional chairman of the FA, Mr. M.N.S Doe wallowed in corrupt practices which he lamented was causing clubs in the region dearly.
In a telephone interview with Today, the Canada-based Greek business mogul complained bitterly over the persistent failure of the FA Boss to intervene in allegations of corruptions leveled against the Central Region FA boss.
“The computer illiterate Central Region FA boss and GFA executive committee member have woefully failed to advance any developmental football objectives in the region, not only due to corruption, bribery and football malpractices that are detrimental to the club and talent development in the region, but also his general lack of visionary leadership, and foresight and his dissociation from modern business trends,” he said.
However, Mr. Nyantakyi, in an interview with Today, rubbished the claims and state that he has no knowledge of any corrupt practice and misconduct leveled against Mr. Doe.
“I do not know anything about any reported case against Mr. Doe’s corrupt practice and misconduct in the football circle in the central region. Whoever claims he reported the case to me is lying,” Mr. Nyantakyi affirmed.
He therefore directed this paper to cross-check from the office of the General Secretary of GFA, Mr. Emmanuel Gyimah, if such a case had been reported to him.
Attempts at reaching Mr. Gyimah however proved futile as numerous calls made to his office were not answered.
In a quick rebuttal, the Club’s managers argued that the “GFA president was woefully dodging the matter which he had knowledge of.”
As the President and founder of CADIMA Sports in Canada, and International businessman, Mr. George Papamikidis has also invested in Major League Soccer, Beach Soccer Futsal, Mixed martial arts and pay-per-view sports TV programme in North America.
Apart from investing in Asofa Stadium project, he also doubles as a manager of many top players like Eric Bekoe (Project Egypt) and Ishmael Antwi, all natives of Asafo, both of which have gone on to played for the national team at some point.
He was of the view that the Asafo community is in desperate need for football action to return after the team’s attempt to register and play in the region’s second division was hampered by a number of issues between the club officials and Mr. Doe.
This issue, he claimed, is very discouraging to him since he has invested thousands of dollars into building a stadium and other infrastructure to provide kids in the town with alternative way to success in life.
Mr. Papamikidis noted that upon his visit to the community and observing income levels and social development structures, he invested heavily in constructing a state-of-art football pitch and arena for the club and community as a whole.
“Something I believe would go into giving the kids alternate route in life and at the same time take them away from criminal activities,” he said.
“I also saw that as an opportunity for kids to use football to get education on scholarships as most children were roaming the streets because their parents could not afford to put them through school.
A divine project that would make his family and daughter extremely happy, as well as improve the lives of many others living in the region,” he asserted.
He indicated that the current team not only boasts of players from Ghana, but also players from Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroun and Burkina Faso, a project which according was helping many Africans as well.
He described the recent actions of Mr. Doe towards Asafo United Football Club as “very discouraging and disappointing.”
He noted that the people of Asafo are scared that these events would cause he (Mr. Papamikidis) to pull out his sponsorship.
The bank roller stated that he believes the behavior of Mr. Doe towards the club, are deemed towards crippling the football club.
He alleged that Mr. Doe has condoned with other clubs in the district to poach and sell Asafo United Players with fraudulent documents.
He further accused of Mr. Doe to have condoned with other teams and officials to rob and kick Asafo United F.C out of the second division league in the current campaign.
The disgruntled president averred that in the 2009/2010 season, the club was fined GH¢1000 from yellow cards and red cards, adding that in 2009/2010 season, the Vice President of the club, Mr. Kwasi Tuafo Donkor, demanded a refund after the season was ended abruptly with only 9 games being played.
This, according to him, created animosity between Mr. Tuafo Donkor and the RFA.
He pointed out that Mr. Doe refused to register the team for the current campaign due to an ongoing saga involving the RFA, All Blacks, Sinappi F.C, Kototo, and Asafo United F.C. with regards to the fraudulent transfer of Hubert Kwakye Ampah to Kumasi Asante Kotoko.
“A player that the community collectively helped during his two and half years at Asafo United Football Club.”
Mr. George Papamikidis contended that the club and the people of Asafo feel cheated that Hubert was transferred to Kotoko without the club’s knowledge.
Mr. Doe, he alleged, also took officiating and affiliation fees of about GH¢1100 from the club and refused them entry into the current campaign.
“The club feels that the only way Mr. Doe would have allowed the team to participate in the league was to let him have his way by dropping the Hubert Case and the other corruptions charges brought against him by the teams officials.
Mr. Doe has also run every election uncontested. As a result of this, he feels untouchable, and as such, has taken the laws of the game into his own hands,” Mr. Papamikidis concluded.
STORY: KORYEKPOR AWLESU FREEMAN
