Nyantakyi Dazzles At Commission   

Kwesi Nyantakyi
Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kwesi Nyantakyi yesterday left a positive impression on the minds of those who watched him, as he fielded questions at a 2014 World Cup Commission Of Inquiry sitting.

He especially reversed the negative impressions about the local football governing body against the backdrop of earlier speculations that the GFA was unwilling to open up to the commission.

Mr Nyantakyi, a lawyer, appeared with a large entourage, including members of the Executive Committee spotting GFA customised coffee-coloured jackets, looking fired up for the encounter with the commissioners.

The Wa All Stars bankroller told the commission that 'I am happy to be here today. My presence here will clear a lot of negative misconceptions about the FA.

'When you do football, people consider you as a thief. I wish I could stay till 6:00pm. Let's do the controversial issues,' he dared the commission to probe further, to the admiration of the many that had gathered at the venue for the hearing.

GFA Raises $36m
Mr Nyantakyi hinted that his outfit had managed to raise a colossal amount of $36m in eight years, mainly from sponsors like GNPC, Cheki.com.gh, Rice Masters and Latex Foam, which go into payments of national team coaches—a responsibility expected to be carried out by government.

Black Stars Budget
Again, the football chief succeeded in pouring cold water on rumours about his outfit's budget and disbursements. He made the commission aware that budgets his outfit prepares ahead of tournaments go through thorough governmental scrutiny before approval.

Responding to how the FA handles public funds, he said, '… Let me repeat- we don't receive public funds. An accountant from the Ministry is always attached to the team and does all payments. For instance, if we need water from a shop, we pick it and the accountant pays. We don't handle cash, we don't event smell it.'

Frequent Change Of Ministers 
According to Mr Nyantakyi, the rampancy with which Youth and Sports Ministers are changed, to a large extent, disturbs the FA's programmes, adding that it distorts institutional memory.

Insufficient Investment
The GFA boss lamented over how much government pumps into football by way of investments, taking into account the power of the game, which he pointed out, is a major tool for international diplomacy besides its power to bring people together regardless of their political, religious and racial differences.

He mentioned that the ripple effects of the 2006 World Cup in Germany to Ghana cannot be quantified in monetary terms.

'We are not putting in much, but the overriding consideration is that we are poor. We go to the World Cup and compete with countries like Germany, who have invested so much, yet we want to excel. We want more state involvement,' he added.

He cited Germany, reigning World Cup champions, as a classical example of countries that invest in football saying 'Germany decided to invest 500 million Euros in their soccer academy systems after the Euro 2002 tournaments, and the results is there for everybody to see.'

Funding National Teams
The GFA president told the commission that his outfit takes care of the various national teams' camping and other allowances, and remitting the female national teams on a weekly basis.

'We give them money every week, and it is the FA that pays. We have a cook at Prampram who takes care of the teams' feeding. It is not true that we pay little attention to the female national teams. We give them preferential treatment because they are ladies and want to keep a close eye on them,' said the FA boss.

Challenges
Chairman of the commission Justice Senyo Dzamefe told the witness that 'from your exposé, it appears everything is ok with you?'

But Nyantakyi replied, 'My Lord it is not okay, we want more state involvement. The Executive Committee has reviewed the pitches at Prampram (Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence) and has consequently engaged experts from South Africa to upgrade it, hopefully next year.'

And when asked why the FA did not engage local pitch expert Green Grass Technology (GGT), he said, 'We have already contracted him to take care of two pitches in Prampram. We don't want to overburden him, it will make him less efficient.'

Earlier in the day, the GFA acting General Secretary Emmanuel Gyimah and Ernestina Abroquah, CEO of Litina Travels, appeared before the Commission.

By Kofi Owusu Aduonum