Beleaguered former head of the defunct Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kwesi Nyantakyi, has disclosed that the money he received from the supposed investors in the Anas "Number 12" exposé was not a gift.
Mr Nyantakyi was caught in a secret filming by ace undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas in an act of accepting a cash gift of $65,000 from supposed investors - which the FIFA rules frowns upon.
In the secret recording, he was pictured taking $65,000 (£48,000) from the undercover reporter pretending to be a businessman.
However, in his official press statement, Kwesi Nyantakyi expatiated on reasons behind the money he received from the supposed football investors from Dubai who were indeed surrogates of the Tiger Eye PI crew.
"I was handed the sum of $40.000 only in eight (8) bundles of US$ 50 banknotes but not $65,000 which both I and the Sheikh’s agent understood to be reimbursement for the travel costs incurred by me, at the Sheikh’s request. It is very easy to confirm how much was given to me from the video tapes. The money was exposed before I was tricked to put in the bag personally.
"A critical review of the video clip will reveal that when the money was handed to me, there was no mention of shopping. A different video has a voice emerging from a faceless speaker saying “shopping for now”. This insertion of an over riding voice was clearly an after thought.
"Based on the agreement with Suale, the $40,000 was a refund and not a gift or bribe. Its disingenuous to purport to donate a gift when the donor owes a lawful debt for cost of travels.
"The question that beats my mind is why Tiger Eye lied about the amount of money given to me. Why was the viewing public not allowed to perceive what they saw and heard on the video themselves? Why run commentaries to deceive the viewing public?