The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has expressed its satisfaction with the ruling delivered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which upholds the appeals filed by players involved in the AshantiGold SC and Inter Allies FC match-fixing case.
The CAS Arbitral Award, issued on Thursday, July 27, 2023, supports the players' appeals against the GFA Appeals Committee's decision issued on July 13, 2022.
According to the Arbitral Award, the appeals of the 22 listed players, including Alex Aso and Richard Lamptey, were upheld, resulting in the annulment of the sanctions previously imposed on them by the GFA. As a result, the players' participation in the 2022/23 football season was allowed by the GFA after the CAS granted a provisional measure (STAY) in fully assisting the players to register for clubs of their choosing.
The GFA was further ordered by CAS to contribute CHF300 each to the 21 players (1st Applicants) and CHF 3,000 to Richard Lamptey (2nd Applicant) to cover legal fees and other expenses related to the CAS proceedings.
While the Arbitral Award dismisses all other claims or prayers for relief filed by the players, the GFA fully complies with the decision in relation to the 22 players accordingly.
CAS is the global supreme body for sports-related disputes and is duly recognised by FIFA under Article 56 of the FIFA Statutes, as well as by the GFA under the 2019 GFA Statutes. The GFA encourages all members and participants in the game to utilize the processes outlined in the Statutes and is committed to full compliance with all such decisions.
The 22 players involved can now fully participate in football activities with their respective clubs.
The full list of the 22 players who appealed the decision are:
- Alex Aso
- Richard Lamptey
- Felix Abuska
- Mohammed Zakari
- Saibu Taufiq
- Fard Ibrahim
- Richard Acquaah
- Eric Esso
- Amos Kofi Nkrumah
- Stephen Owusu Banahene
- Kwame Moses
- Empem Dacosta
- Frank Akoto
- Isaac Opoku Agyemang
- Solomon Afriyie
- Mohammed Bailou
- Emmanuel Owusu
- Samed Mohammed
- Paul Asare de Vries
- Amos Addai
- Abdul Kadir Mohammed
- Isah Ali