Kofi Manu denies suggesting Egypt attempted to bribe Ghana

Ghana FA member Kofi Manu has denied reports that he claimed the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) offered a $1-million bribe to Ghana to fix a 2014 World Cup qualifier.

The vocal administrator hit out at the reports saying he was ‘hugely misquoted and misrepresented’ by the media which has irked the Egyptians who have threatened to report the matter to CAF.

Manu was reported to have told a local radio station Asempa FM that the GFA boss Kwesi Nyantakyi turned down a $1-million inducement to let Egypt win a key 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

However, Manu insists that he was wrongly quoted by the media who failed to grasp his analogy over the honesty and trustworthiness of Nyantakyi.

“I was shocked when I read reports that I have said Egypt attempted to bribe Mr Nyantakyi because I never said or suggested that,” Kofi Manu told a local radio stations Muntea FM.

“I was wondering why a journalist will listen to a radio programme to hugely misquote and misrepresent what I said. I never suggested, implied or said that Egypt approached Kwesi to bribe him.

“I was vouching for Kwesi’s honesty when I said some years ago people were accused of taking $25,00 to compromise Ghana’s matches. I added with the last World Cup qualifier against Egypt the stakes were higher and that could even attract $1m if he is not honest yet Nyantakyi opted for helping Ghana to qualify without looking that way.

“So it is surprising to me that someone would put this statement out there to paint a picture that I said Egypt offered a bribe. They did not and I insist they did not do anything of the sort.”

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has also played down the reports in the Ghana media but threatened to report Manu to CAF to substantiate the allegations.

The EFA completely denied these allegations and said that they will contact their Ghanaian counterpart seeking explanation.

Egypt FA boss Gamal Allam said they will first contact the Ghana FA before it files the complaint with CAF thanks to the “good relationship that ties both associations.”

Egypt came inches close to reaching the 2014 World Cup finals, for the first time since 1990 and the third time ever, after topping their group during the qualifiers.

They had one final hurdle: to win against Ghana during the play-off game. Their hopes were dashed following a thrashing 6-1 away defeat at Accra, putting them in front of a mountain to climb before the return leg.

In Cairo Military stadium on 19 November 2013, the seven-time African champions claimed a 2-1 win, a result that allowed the Black Stars to reach the finals on a 7-3 aggregate win.