Minister for Youth and Sports Isaac Kwame Asiamah will lead a Government of Ghana delegation for a crunch meeting with the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), on Thursday, August 16, in Zurich, Switzerland, over an impending ban of Ghana, from football related activities.
According to media reports, Mr. Asiamah together with deputy Attorney General, Godfred Dame and Deputy Chief of Staff, Abu Jinapor will meet with FIFA Executives, to discuss and dialogue over FIFA's position.
''The Bureau of Council of FIFA after considering Ghana's preferred to curing the problem of widespread corruption considers that the petition the court currently which is to liquidate will be an act which in their opinion amounts to undue influence in the affairs of the Ghana FA and that will be contrary to Articles 14 and 19,'' Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said at Wednesday's meet the press.
'Upon receiving this communication, the government and FIFA have continued to engage. You recall that we started the engagement right from the onset- we have continued to engage even at the highest level and the two parties have agreed to meet on Thursday, 16 August to discuss a number of issues
''The focus of that discussion is to explore means by which the two parties can finalize arrangements on a mutually acceptable route for this final phase of resolving the observed infractions of football administration in Ghana.''
FIFA is asking Ghana to halt the liquidation process against the Ghana Football Association by Monday, August 27, or face ban from all football related activities.
According to the information gathered, the Government team, which is ready to dialogue in a more diplomatic way would seek to make it clear to FIFA that the laws of Ghana must prevail above any other international body’s law and that Ghana being a sovereign country would seek to fight corruption in all sectors of the country, especially when there is a an overwhelming evidence of widespread corruption and other forms of illegality at all levels of the operations of the GFA.
The Government team, which would discuss other important matters would seek to affirm Government’s position of not willing to run or interfere with the administration of football in Ghana, but to save the game from dying by eradicating corruption and criminal conducts from the game of football just as FIFA frowns on corruption and criminal activities in the game, with its zero tolerance for corruption.