“We have never taken money from government to play friendly matches” declared Ghana Football Association (GFA) Vice President George Afriyie last week in an interview. It was the typical fighting talk from FA officials- Defensive, post hoc and usually only after they have been pushed against the wall.
For years, rightly or wrongly, the GFA has had to fight off the perception of corruption in the Ghanaian public eye fomented by the guarded way in which the affairs of the Association is run. Infamously, the GFA even contended at a point that information about player bonuses are state secrets that cannot be shared with the public! Last week Transparency International (TI) released its Football Governance League Table and Ghana scored zero on the four categories used as measures of transparency.
The four measures based on the Transparency International Business Principles for Countering Bribery were: financial accounts, codes of conduct, charters/statutes and information on activities.
One point was given for each. TI sought to find out how transparent the associations were about the money they receive from FIFA and their other revenues such as from sponsors, broadcasting licenses, ticket sales, international matches and other sources in addition to the funds for FIFA.
This takes us back to George Afriyie’s elucidations and the folly of it. Surprisingly, given statements attributed to the Spots minister Mustapha Ahmed in the past week the ministry does not appear interested in transparency in the GFA as much as getting in on the act of negotiating sponsorship deals! So does the Ghana fa deserve a zero scoring on how transparent it has been?
The report focused on publicly available information on websites and backed up with emails to federations asking for links to information. Granted the FA has a statute that governs its activities; it is not one readily available to the public neither do they publish “the minimum amount of information necessary to let people know what they do, how they spend their money and what values they believe in”.
The website offers precious little administrative information or documentary records. Getting that information fromthe secretariat becomes even more daunting.
The GFA has often adopted an apologetic posture when the most innocuous questions about their financial affairs is posed. The simple refrain is always we do not have to account to the public since we account to Government for monies collected and our accounts are duly audited. These aloof answers have only deepened the suspicion of corruption among the public. As the Transparency international report suggests in its recommendation “Where there is a lack of information there are heightened corruption risks.
The arrests of FIFA executives and their business partners have made the world aware of the corruption that can become systemic, even in football. No member of the GFA has been convicted of corruption, at least not yet. Neither has any adverse findings been made against the Nyantakyi administration but anybody knows that the fact that accounts are submitted to the FA’s absolves nobody of potential wrongdoing.
You only have to sit in a typical GFA congress session to realise the posse of football administrators and representatives who converge for congress don’t care much about detailed scrutiny of the FA and simply just want to get on with things The last time the FA was the object of criticism for how they spend FIFA money, they (or at least their communications director) responded with such arsenic laden vitriol that would make anybody think twice before attempting a criticism.
The unfortunate victim on that occasion was the British High Commissioner, H.E Jon Benjamin. The FA is not a gentleman’s club or a private association accountable to only its members. Rather than employ ‘Jon Benjamin’ type responses to criticism, the GFA should see the TI report as an opportunity to improve its governance structure and transparency record. Kwesi Nyantakyi has made no secret his desire to leave a legacy when his current term expires in five years.
That will only come to fruition when he expedites action to make the GFA’s finances, administration and activities more open. Only then will his legacy be safe. As the Transparency International Report notes “If football organisations incorporate best anti-corruption practices into how they operate they can begin to win back trust among fans…”
By Samuel Bartels/ CITI FM