Election of GFA vice could divide ExCo - Saani Daara

Former Communications Director of the Ghana Football Association, Ibrahim Saani Daara says the major flaw in the new statutes presented by the Normalization Committee and approved by Congress was the decision to scrap the appointment of the FA Vice.

He said the provision in the new Statutes which now makes the selection of a Vice President an elective process is recipe for disaster because of the kind of acrimony it has the potential to foment.

According to Saani, his experience after working at the Ghana Football Association for many years has taught him that those who lose such closely knit elections usually attribute it to all sort of reasons, including machinations from the FA President, which can harm the unity of the Executive Council.

Speaking on Football 360 on Joy Prime on Sunday, Saani said the GFA should immediately revert to appointing the FA Vice and ditch this new directive and law to elect him from the Executive Council.

“I have come to realize that appointing the FA Vice is ideal. This is because those who lose can be bitter and ascribe their loss to many factors and if you are not careful those people can plot from behind to undermine the President. You can do all the planning and come out with the best policies but if consistently there are leaks to the media calculated to destroy you the you will not achieve anything. This is why I think the vice should be based on appointment so they don’t undermine you as the president of the Association.”

Names such as Dr Toni Aubyn, George Amoako of Kotoko and Randy Abbey have been bandied around as potential candidates for the vice-presidential slot.

According to many media reports Randy Abbey is the front runner even though he is yet to openly declare his interest in the position.

Abbey is a media consultant and the current host of “Good Morning Ghana”, an award-winning current affairs program which has aired on Metro TV Ghana for the past 17 years.

He has extensive interest in media, public relations, and sports and serves on different boards in the private sector.

As an alumnus of Accra Academy, he holds an MBA in General Management, a certificate in HR Management and Public Administration- amongst many other accomplishments.

He is currently pursuing his Doctoral Studies at the Swiss Business School, in Zurich Switzerland.

Abbey was once the director of Communication of the Ghana Football Association during Kwesi Nyantakyi's era.

The newly-elected 12-man Executive Council of the football governing body is expected to elect the new veep in the coming days.