FIFA has exposed member associations to governmental attacks – Kofi Manu

Experienced administrator Kofi Manu believes FIFA has opened its member associations up for attacks by governments over its handling of the situation in Ghana.

The world football governing body on Thursday announced a four-member Normalization Committee for the Ghana FA.

This was the first significant attempt to restore the GFA to calm after months of anarchy following an expose of alleged widespread corruption amongst referees and high ranking officials.

The expose infuriated the general public and led the government into initiating a legal action seeking to dissolve the GFA.

Executive Committee members were injuncted from performing their duties while the GFA headquarters was sealed off as a crime scene which demanded an intervention from FIFA.

The world football governing body however appeared to have departed from its norm by entertaining and in some aspects compromising on the demands of the Ghanaian government without giving the ‘football people’ a hearing.

A petition to FIFA from the erstwhile Executive Committee in the wake of real threats of the dissolution of the GFA by the state is to date yet to be responded to – giving further credence to the significant shift in FIFA’s policy of sticking by its ‘people’ no matter what.

This according to Kofi Manu is a bad precedent of which other governments will be lining up to take advantage of.

“FIFA per its own statutes frowns on government interference but has also contradicted itself by allowing government to have its way without recourse to the Executive Committee,” he told Happy FM.

“Till date, a petition from the then Executive Committee has not been responded to. FIFA clearly took sides with government without giving a legitimately elected Executive Committee a hearing.

“This is something I am sure that other governments are watching keenly and will certainly take advantage of in future.”

Manu went on to suggest that the current FIFA leadership caved into government demands because they lack the experience of its former administration led by Sepp Blatter.

“[Gianni] Infantino is new, Fatma Samoura is new that is why this is happening,” he added.

“Do you thing under the reign of Sepp Blatter and Jerome Valcke and the like this would have been entertained?”

The Normalization Committee have been given a 6-month mandate to reorganize the Ghana FA and prepare it for elections of its new leadership.