Ghana averts FIFA ban after government agrees to drop court case

Ghana averted a FIFA ban on Thursday when government agreed to stop a court action to dissolve the local federation while a Normalisation Committee is appointed to ensure that football activities resume in the country.

The agreement between FIFA and the Ghana government was reached on Thursday during a meeting between called at the instance of the latter to avoid a FIFA ban.

The Executive Committee of the GFA will be dissolved immediately for the Normalization Committee to take charge of the administration of the game in the country.

This means government has agreed not to dissolve the GFA as the court action by the Attorney General is now teetering on the brink of collapse.

Several other measures will be put in place to ensure that the game runs soundly in the country with systems approved to secure the integrity of the game.

These measures were agreed after FIFA fired a warning to the Ghana government to discontinue the court action which was seen by the governing body as interference.

FIFA accused the government of third-party interference and gave the country an August 27 ultimatum to withdraw its application to the High Court to commence the liquidation process of the GFA or risk being banned from all football-related activities.

FIFA General Secretary, Fatma Samoura, in the letter, said the world body considered the government's legal process to liquidate the FA as "undue influence in the affairs of the GFA" and violated FIFA statutes.

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Isaac Kwame Asiamah, led the five-member government team tasked to engage FIFA to resolve the impasse.

Other members of the team that will represent the interests of the government in the consultation are a Deputy Attorney General, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, and a Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr Samuel Jinapor.

Articles 14 and 19 of the FIFA Statutes state that member associations must “manage their affairs independently and ensure that their own affairs are not influenced by any third parties”.