Abedi's Woes Deepening

*To lose $15,000 monthly SAFA flier as Hayatou pushes for his ban

CELEBRATED GHANAIAN football icon, Abedi Ayew Pele's problems over ownership of Nania Football Club seems to getting worse, as fresh reports suggest that he could lose out on a $15,000 monthly remuneration he receives from the South African Football Association (SAFA).

The pay-out -remuneration Abedi has been receiving from SAFA - could be scrapped over his suspension for match fixing and his alleged role in the controversial convenience match between Nania FC (31) and Okwahu United (0) game.

Sources say though the Ghana Football Association (GFA) sought to prevent this fall-out of Abedi's suspension by deliberately limiting his ban to matches organized by the GFA, some top officials of the continental football body, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), led by President Issa Hayatou are likely to push the knobs on Abedi as payback.

Abedi openly opposed the candidature of the Cameroonian CAF president's bid for the FIFA job and instead supported the candidature of the current Swiss FIFA boss, Sepp Blatter, who pipped Hayatou by 139-56 votes on May 29, 2002 to win the FIFA presidency.

Football insiders tell this paper that some gurus at CAF are honing in on the GFA suspension after diplomatic expressions of a preference for a harsher punishment against the Ghanaian legend to the GFA, failed to succeed.

Sources within the GFA Disciplinary Committee told this paper that Hayatou's men expressed a desire for them (Committee) to extend Abedi's ban from football activities to the continental level, where they would gleefully implement it as punishment for backing Sepp Blatter (instead of Hayatou) in the 2002 FIFA presidential race.

Worse still, Abedi appears to have earned the silent wrath of the Chief Executive Officer of the South African 2010 Local Organising Committee (SALOC), Danny Jordaan, who has confirmed that they have already written to the GFA over the issue.

"We (SALOC) have sent a letter to the Ghana Football Association enquiring about this incident regarding Abedi," South African media reports quoted Jordaan as telling a gathering at SAFA House in Johannesburg early this month.

"It is a matter for the Ghana Football Association to investigate as it happened there. We will wait for a response from them before we can take any action," he further added, stressing that the allegations of the kind surrounding Pele right now will not be tolerated by the LOC.

"We will not condone such actions by anyone involved with the LOC or by ambassadors for the 2010 World Cup. However, before we make any decisions we need factual information from the Ghana FA.

"I have spoken to Abedi but I won't say much of what he told me, we can only make our decision once the tribunal is held in Ghana," the reports further quoted him as saying.

Abedi Pele, together with Cameroon legend, Roger Milla and Liberian icon, George Weah, have been ambassadors for South Africa for sometime and played key roles in South African's bid for the 2010 World Cup.

But Abedi, together with former Liberian football star, politician and African, European and World Footballer of the Year 1995, George Oppon Weah, were reported to have recently complained over huge remunerations to Danny Jordaan over his World Cup role, claiming that their $25,000 remuneration each pales in significance compared to the $1.2 million remuneration given to Jordaan and another colleague for the same roles in bringing the World Cup to South Africa.

The City Press newspaper of Johannesburg in a report recently noted that Emmanuel Maradas, who was the ambassadors' co-ordinator for the South African World Cup bid, had revealed Jordaan's bid colleagues were up in arms following announcement of the payment.

The said colleagues included Abedi Pele, George Weah and Philemon Masinga.

"I was woken up by a fuming George Weah, the Liberian superstar who helped present the South African bid in Zurich, about 01:00," said Maradas from London on Friday.

"He told me he was in the US and was holding a newspaper with an article which said Khoza, Oliphant and Jordaan were to receive US$1.2m each.

"An upset Weah asked me why there was such a discrepancy between what they had been paid as ambassadors and what the three were getting".

Maradas said Weah, Abedi Pele and Roger Milla had received $25 000 (about R150 000) each for their work for the campaign.

"Abedi also called me ... and asked me to set up an urgent meeting with Danny (Jordaan) where this issue will be raised."

The report also noted that former English club, Leeds United striker and South African international, Philemon Masinga, expressed some reservation over the issue.

"Philemon "Chippa" Masinga, who was one of the ambassadors, said: "When I was brought in, Danny promised me that I would get a bonus if we won the right to host the World Cup. I haven't received a cent up to now.

"I don't have any problem with Danny, Irvin and Oliphant getting R7.5m each, but I think we should also be paid our share."

The GFA early this month placed a ban on Abedi and others, after declaring null and void the last matches of the Zone Three National Middle League. The GFA also placed a year ban on Nania and three other clubs for engaging in fixed matches.

The directive for the year-long ban, which takes effect from the end of the current football season, was issued after Abedi's team, Nania FC, recorded a cricket scoreline of 31-0 against Okwawu United, with Great Mariners recording a 29-0 victory over Tudu Mighty Jets in a game in which the winner would be promoted to the premier league.

In addition to the ban, the four clubs were demoted to the Division Three League.

The decision follows the Disciplinary Committee's findings that the two matches were fixed.

Officials and players of the four clubs who were found culpable for their roles in the games have also been affected by the ban and would also similarly serve a year ban, during which they will not be allowed to enter the dressing rooms, sit on benches of any football team for any match organised or sanctioned by the GFA.

The affected officers include Abedi Pele and a number of officials from Nania FC.

They were charged with having agreed, "instigated, commanded, counselled, solicited, procured, purposely aided, encouraged, facilitated and promoted the playing of a fix match or a match of convenience."

Abedi could not be reached for his comments by press time but aides say he has since appealed against the April 11 decision of the GFA, challenging the basis of the evidence used in sanctioning him and his team.

"It is my view and this is supported by the proceedings that took place before the Committee that not only was there no evidence to "disclose the motive behind" any conduct but there was simply no basis for the conclusions reached by the Committee. In the first place the Committee as per the points summarized above itself conceded that the scoreline of a match may raise eyebrows but does not certainly point to a conclusion that the match was fixed," Abedi argued.

"In the first place, having regard to all the circumstances of the case Okwahu United had no interest in the result of the other match because regardless of the result of our match against them and that of the other match they gained no advantage. That conclusion would have made logical sense if it were my players who delayed the start of the second half because the result of our match with Okwahu United and the other match had a direct effect on our fortunes. As the evidence showed we were ready and were on the field waiting for Okwahu United to turn up.

My second reason for disagreeing with the conclusion reached by the committee on this point is that there was no evidence whatsoever that we were responsible for any such thing. There was no evidence that before, during or after the match the officials of Okwahu United and myself and/or any of my officials engaged in any form of discussion or even camaraderie nor did any such thing ever take place. What then did we do wrong? A thorough reading of the Committee's report would reveal without doubt that neither myself nor any of my officials nor players did anything to suggest even remotely that we compromised the match. The only possible accusation is that my team scored more goals. And if that is the case, my contention is that whilst the scoreline may raise eyebrows, it does not point to an irrefutable conclusion that the match was fixed."

Abedi further argued: "At the height of my career and even that of Maradona or the legendary Pele, it is very possible to record that score against a team featuring those players if they had to play with six other men one of whom is not a natural goalkeeper…"

In his view, "not a scintilla of evidence points to any form of impropriety on our part. All that the Committee said was that Okwahu United were not competitive. But was that our fault? And in any case was it their fault too? If the players of a team get injured and their substitution list is exhausted what magic are they expected to perform. In all this hullabaloo about the scoreline of our match, what is peddled around is the video clip of another match and deliberately misrepresented as the match between my team and that of Okwahu United."