Nyantakyi, Anas in dog fight over $150,000 ‘bribe’

Embattled former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kwesi Nyantakyi, is fighting ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, over his expose on corruption in football administration which forced him to resign recently.

After about two weeks of silence, the once powerful FA chief is alleging that Anas and his Tiger Eye PI team entrapped him and later demanded a whopping $150,000 to discard the videos on him.

Third Party

“Let me also confirm that there was a demand on me through a lawyer to part with $150k for Anas to drop the videos on me. I didn’t have the said amount of money to meet his demand,” Mr. Nyantakyi stated in a news release issued yesterday.

Mr. Nyantakyi also claimed Anas and his team hacked into his personal email account in order to implicate him.

He challenged Anas to play the unedited recordings for public analysis.

Anas Fires Back

Anas quickly debunked the assertions that they demanded $150,000 from Mr. Nyantakyi to drop the video which was premiered recently.

He challenged the suspended FIFA Council member to provide evidence to buttress his claims.

“The claim that a third party made a demand of $159k for Anas is a complete fabrication, a figment of Mr. Nyantakyi’s imagination and has no merit,” Tiger Eye PI said in a statement.

“We dare Mr. Nyantakyi to name his third party. In fact, Tiger Eye is willing to provide undercover support to assist him find this third party should he extend an invitation to us again.”

The investigative journalist also said, “Regarding the purported hacking of Mr. Nyantakyi’s email, this is also manufactured to make him appear a victim. Again, we dare him to substantiate who hacked his email and how the person did it in this day of advanced technology; these events are traceable.”

Nyantakyi Concerns

Mr. Nyantakyi, in his statement, said he was not given any $65,000 as portrayed in Anas’ expose and explained that he was given $40,000 as refund for his air travel and accommodation.

He alleged that Anas’ videos were voiced over to give a certain negative effect to tarnish his reputation.

“Why did Tiger Eye lie about the amount of money given to me? Why was the viewing public not allowed to perceive what they saw and heard themselves? Why run commentaries to deceive the viewing public?” he quizzed.

Namax Deal

He insisted that the audio that painted a different picture about Namax contract was created to present a false impression about him to the public.

He said he had no interest in the contract and that the FA was not party to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) involving NAMAX and another company.

Anas was able to give details as to how Mr. Nyantakyi proposed to create a company (NAMAX) to act as an agent to help with the Ghana Premier League sponsorship deal.

The video also highlighted how Mr. Nyantakyi drafted a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and signed on behalf of the created company, NAMAX, for the sponsorship deal.

Intermediary Charges

In the Tiger Eye expose, the company proposed to charge between 20 and 25 per cent as fees for helping the GFA to secure sponsorship deal for the Ghana Premier League.

But Mr. Nyantakyi, in his statement, said the MoU was signed between two companies without the FA’s involvement.

“The MoU was between NAMAX and Medgulf Construction Company Limited. The GFA was no party to it. I had no personal interest in the MoU. If my signature was cloned and pasted there, it had no legal effect.”

“A poor understanding of legal instruments laced with mischief can only lead to the pointless argument canvassed therein. The point is obvious when account is taken of the description accompanying the signature. It’s unthinkable that I will be signing a document in my capacity as the GFA President when the GFA is not a party to the document.”

Anas has already written to FIFA to ban Mr Nyantakyi for life for alleged misconduct, although the association has imposed a 90-day ban on the former GFA boss, who was also the First Vice President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).



Nyantakyi Questions

Mr Nyantakyi fired, “Why would Tiger Eye, together with BBC, try to make us believe the supposed investigation was carried out over a period of two years when the first match was investigated on 19th of March 2017? Why was the video published a few days to the FIFA decision on the host of 2026 World Cup?”

He added, “One objective of the expose was to discredit me as a key supporter of Morocco’s bid. How come Aden Range Marwa, the Kenyan referee, was tracked to no other place but Morocco by Tiger Eye. This and other questions point out irresistibly to motives than exposing corruption.”

Anas’ Response

However, Anas, in his statement, said that “we wish to advise Mr. Nyantakyi to address the issues uncovered by Tiger Eye PI investigations without seeking to pull others in his behavior,” adding “we are not aware /privy to any meeting with former footballers and two others. This is also a lie.”

“We are not surprised at his rate of manufacturing stories without any proof. He is good at it. From his own admissions, Mr. Nyantakyi did not have the consent of the political authorities to negotiate on their behalf, yet made a fantastic presentation on their behalf.”

Anas insisted that Mr. Nyantakyi was given “$65,000 as a gift and all hotel accommodation expenses were borne by Tiger Eye team although it was an official meeting.

“The raw tape, together with all documentary evidence, has been submitted to the security agencies to investigate.”