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Soccer News of Tuesday, 30 July 2002

Source: Joy Online

Club Chairman Cited In Bribery Move

Less than two weeks after club officials resolved and pledged not to indulge in bribery, a club chairman has been caught in the act. The referee in question is being advised to report the issue to the Ghana Football Association.

A close source told JOYonline that, should the referee fail to report the actions of the club chairman, he would rather be implicated for encouraging bribery and corruption.

The two people in question are referee Mustapha Mohammed based in Kumasi and the Chairman of Berekum Arsenals.

The Chairman of Arsenals, Alhaji Yakubu is alleged to have tried to convince referee Mustapha to influence the proceedings of their match against Dawu Youngsters for a fee. The latter won by a lone goal.

Further investigations by JOYonline revealed that referee Mustapha Mohammed has denied being involved in any bribery move. Meanwhile the named officials are yet to meet a committee set up by the FA.

A few weeks ago, club officials admitted to giving bribes to match officials to influence the outcome of matches they were involved in. This was after a tough and mind-buckling meeting held by the Football Association and all the club officials.

The revelations also incriminated the match officials who reportedly chase soccer administrators for money to enable them to influence the outcome of matches they officiate.

At the meeting, the club officials pledged never to resort to bribery in order to uphold the image and dignity of the game and also promote fair play.

The resolution by the various clubs has now confirmed the highly held notion that club and match officials were engaged in match fixing. This canker in Ghana Football is yet to be completely uprooted but when the mess would be completely cleared is yet to be done.