Apply the rules if you want football to succeed – Dr Kofi Amoah to GFA

The Ghana Football Association should not hesitate to crack the whip on clubs and persons who violate its rules, Dr Kofi Amoah, the president of the Normalization Committee has said.

According to Kofi Amoah, Ghana football is lagging behind because the FA treats lawbreakers with kid gloves.

In an exclusive interview with www.ghanaweb.com, Kofi Amoah said the FA must not compromise on discipline since that is the key to the success of the game.

Touching on the club licensing policy, Kofi Amoah was unhappy with how club’s have gotten away with not meeting the demands of the policy.

“Football has been in Ghana for over hundred years and one must ask why our football is down there. Football is run by laws and regulations and we refused to accept that. It is clear in the club licensing statutes that to get license to operate a football club, you must have A,B,C,D. None of that happens and then it continues”.


“The facilities are not there, the administrative structures are not there and the capacity to run a football club properly are not there and we continue to go on. If we want Ghana football to rise, we must understand that the laws and regulations of the FA are there for a purpose. They are there to help the association succeed so any club or person that refuses to abide by these regulations must be punished. If we choose not to abide by these statutes and rules, our football will never rise”, he said.

Dr Kofi Amoah was reacting to the CAS ruling on the Osei Kwaku Palmer versus GFA case.

Kofi Amoah feels that the decision by CAS is a vindication of the one taken by the Elections Committee which he chaired.

“It’s a complete vindication which must be embraced in Ghana here that organizations that are ruled by statutes and regulations, the members of those organizations must respect those regulations and statutes. This case had nothing to do with any personality clash. I didn’t know Palmer from anywhere until I joined the Normalization Committee”.

“We went strictly in doing our work by the mandate given to us by FIFA and by the regulations of football including the statutes and the GFA regulations. Here is a clear case of an association that has decided properly, discussed and enacted by Congress that to develop football any club that transfers a player must pay ten percent to the GFA. Tema Youth club is aware and so is Palmer and he confirmed that to the NC. The arrogance with which he refused to do it could not establish the integrity of such a person as to come and run an organization”, he said.