Sports News of Thursday, 11 December 2014

Source: The Republic

Pressure mounts on Randy Abbey for GFA presidency

There is an increasing pressure mounting on Randy Abbey, the anchor of Metro TV's Morning Show and a former spokesperson of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), to unseat the current GFA President, Kwasi Nyantekyi next year when the FA goes to congress to elect its president.

Randy Abbey who currently owns a Premier League club, Kpando Hearts of Lions, is being pushed as the best candidate to salvage the dwindling image of the GFA, particularly after its scandalous showing at the Brazil 2014 World cup tournament.

Several pressure groups are pressing for Randy Abbey to contest the embattled Kwasi Nyatekyi. The latest is a group calling itself, "We Want Randy to be GFA President".

In a 10th December 2014 open letter addressed to Mr. Abbey, the group stated, "Mr. Abbey, we are taking this opportunity to appeal to you to consider contesting the GFA seat in order to save Ghana football from the current state."

"We believe that if you occupy the seat, Ghana Football will see many changes in all areas," the group pleaded.

Randy Abbey, whose obvious popularity is rising among football pundits in Ghana, has not made any categorical statement about the possibility of him contesting the GFA presidency in the face of the mounting pressures, but T-Shirts and other paraphernalia’s have been printed in support of him being the next GFA President.

He recently turned down an appointment to be the Chairman of the female football team, the Black Queens, saying the position should be reserved for a woman.

His supporters believe that he should be the right person to unseat the beleaguered Kwasi Nyantakyi who, together with other GFA officials are currently being investigated by a Commission of Enquiry over his stewardship of the country's football team in the just ended Brazil 2014 World cup.

Kwasi Nyantakyi who has been at the receiving end of serious allegations and criticisms over his handling of affairs during the World cup, including presiding over the ridiculous spectacle of the Ghana government being forced to airlift over US$4 million physical cash to pay players fees because the GFA failed to rein in the confusion at the Ghana camp in Brazil.

The confusion in the camp resulted in brawls between players and football officials and suspensions that eventually saw Ghana crashing out of the tournament during a critical phase of the competition.