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Soccer News of Thursday, 6 November 2003

Source: GNA

Koufie to seek redress at the courts

Accra, Nov 6, GNA - Mr Benjamin Koufie, Chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has said he will seek redress at the law court against the person who allegedly recorded a private conversation between him and Mr. Yusif Adams Ibrahim unawares.

The chairman who was speaking in an interview with an Accra-based Radio Station on Wednesday, monitored by the GNA Sports, said he was speaking to his lawyers to fish out the person who recorded the two capos "so that I can legally deal with him."

He said though he initially wanted to let the case die a natural death, he has changed his mind based on advice he received from his close associates and was poised to pursue what he termed an embarrassing issue to the later.

"Initially, I decided to let sleeping dogs lie in order to have my peace, but people kept telling me I will be doing injustice to myself forever and that compelled me to consider this option," the FA boss said.

Admitted it will be a Herculean task to fish for the perpetuator, Mr Koufie said his lawyers are seriously studying the issue expressing optimism that luck will tilt in his favour in this quest.

The 71-year old chairman said he had no idea who the recorder might be, but could only recall that on the day he had the said conversation, he received two calls from Tarkoradi prior to his entry to Mr. Ibrahim's office where the two spoke on a large range of issues.

He mentioned that though he spoke to both Goodnewss FM and Sky Power Station respectively, all Tarkoradi-based Radio stations, just around the same time, he was unable to figure which call came before the other.

He admitted that negligence on his part to hang up after the call caused him the present embarrassment, which have forced him to withdraw his earlier ambition to seek for a second term after December.

The FA guru expressing regret about the incident said "if I woke up today and saw the current happenings as nothing but a dream, I would have re-written the whole story over again."

Still standing by whatever the tape captured, Mr. Koufie said the only regret he had as far as the conversation is concern is the unfavorable comments he made on Mr B.A Mensah, the father of Herbert Mensah, ex-chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko and the current chairman of Kumasi King Faisal.

He said he was lured into those allegation against the 80-year old man based on what he termed " wrong information I received from a journalist", whose name, he claimed, does not even know but could make him out in public.

The Soccer Express of their Friday, October 31, in its banner headline reported on an alleged conversation between Mr. Koufie and Mr. Ibrahim on a wide range of issues.

The alleged conversation, according to the paper, prominently featured Mr. Nsiah as being ineffective and only travel happy and criticized the GHALCA on its proposed take over of the national premier league in 2005 and other dignitaries including the Mensahs.