Probe urged into cash allegations after Ghana defeat

Ghana's parliamentary opposition demanded a full inquiry on Wednesday after allegations that Ghana players received cash from Nigerian officials following the match that clinched Nigeria's place at the 2002 World Cup.

Ghana Football Association chairman Ben Koufie told local Joy FM radio on Tuesday that team officials and players were given a total of $25,000 in the southeast Nigerian city of Port Harcourt after losing their African zone qualifying game 3-0 on July 29.


``The money was given to us in the open,'' Koufie said, adding that initially he had turned the money down but had then been told that other visiting teams were treated the same way.


``Everyone in the team got their share, except the deputy (sports) minister Joe Aggrey. It was later we found out that we had left out the journalists so we ensured that they also got some of the money,'' Koufie said.


Aggrey confirmed he had declined the cash, and said there had been no question of throwing the match.


``The boys played the best they could,'' Aggrey told Reuters.

But opposition National Democratic Congress members of parliament issued a statement demanding ``full-scale investigations'' and the immediate suspension of Koufie and Aggrey.


Nigeria's top diplomat in Ghana, High Commissioner Sam Okechukwu, said the money was ``a personal gift from the (state) governor, freely given and freely received.''


``There was nothing secret or devilish about it. He did it for other teams,'' he told Reuters.


The win -- their first over Ghana for 17 years -- put Nigeria ahead of Liberia and guaranteed them a place at next year's World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.