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Sports Features of Thursday, 17 July 2014

Source: The Informer

Football Forum: Who is Ayariga trying to protect

There is a saying that, when the crab is in the whole trying to mind its own business and you bend to disturb it, a private part of your body will be exposed for the public to see.

Dear reader, we hope by the time you finish reading this analysis; you will agree with us why the newly-appointed Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Mahama Ayariga, must be called to order and not made to waste the taxpayers money.

With the President having appointed a committee to investigate the Brazil embarrassment, many Ghanaians expect that some of the questions to be answered by the committee’s report would include:

1) Whether there is any truth in the allegation that some officials who accompanied the Black Stars team to Brazil persuaded the players to hold the country to ransom by demanding cash as their appearance fees.

2) To ascertain the veracity of the allegation by Goalkeeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey that he was dropped from the subsequent matches on the instruction of an official of the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

3) Given the way the stars played against the Germans and the way and manner Germany demolished Brazil; has Ghana blown the chance of making the continent - Africa proud.

4) The 3 million dollars corporate money that was used to send the 500 supporters to Brazil, some of whom heard the results of some of the matches on air; could that money had been used in a better way like mounting giant screens at vintage locations for our rural folks who have problems with electricity to also watch the matches

5) And any other matters arising.

From the above, and with due respect, would it not have been sensible for Mr. Mahama Ayariga to organize his retreat of the eminent Football Administrators including his demoted colleague Minister, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah and Kwesi Nyantekyi, who led the Ghana delegation to Brazil to bring the said gargantuan disgrace onto the nation?

In fact, it would be prudent on the part of Mr. Mahama Ayariga, to wait for the committee to finish its work, so he can act on its recommendations with a retreat or whatever forum he deems fit, rather than trying to ambush the committee and the President.

Per the action of the newly appointed Youth and Sports Minister, what it means is that what the President has tasked the committee to do will be irrelevant, having jumped the gun with his so-called retreat.

The question many discerning Ghanaians are asking is ‘who is Ayariga trying to protect” with the haste at which he decided to assemble these Eminent Football Administrators and to waste taxpayers money, or whether his decision is an attempt to make the President look like “SIMPA PANYIN” (to wit make the report of the president’s committee irrelevant).

In the coming days, The Informer will inform Ghanaians of the confessions of an official who accompanied the team to Brazil, of what he claims was cover-ups by the FA with its quick press briefing.