I have no intentions of gagging critics – Kurt Okraku clarifies comment at Congress

The President of the Ghana Football Association, Kurt Okraku, has clarified a statement he made at the recent 26th Ordinary Congress which has been received by some persons as an attempt to gag dissenting views.

Addressing the Congress, Kurt Okraku called on the members of the FA to reject some people whose only interest is to destroy the image of the sport.

Kurt Okraku argued in his address that the conduct of such persons drives away potential investors and sponsors.

He then made a clarion call on members of the FA to join forces with the Executive Council to revive the sport.

“Despite the hard work done by the GFA, a few of us do not think about this family; there are a few of us, who perhaps only think about their personal interest; there are still a few of us who do not think about the total good of our football,” an emotional Okraku noted.

“There are a few of us who continuously go out of this family and go out to the public space to malign your product, my product, your business. We must reject these people,” he said.

Some administrators have expressed reservations about Kurt’s comments and he has moved quickly to clarify it.

He said that he is opened to criticism and his administration will continue to tolerate divergent views.

The former Dreams FC boss said that stakeholders must be mindful of the image of the sport when they are making statements on media platforms.

“I am not trying to gag my colleagues both in football and in the media. What I have said is that let's always, at all times, think about Ghana football. We are one family.

“We may be different in opinions on how we think the game must be administered but in the end, we are the same people; you have given an opportunity to some of us to lead the family. Yes, we may have divergent views, but we have good platforms that we can share our divergent views," he said.

“All I am saying is that, let’s keep to our divergent views but let’s hold on to occasions like this [congress] where, as a group, we come together and dissect our football business and speak about issues that affect us in common and find very good solutions to our problems. We shouldn’t resolve to the public space,” he stated.