SFO to grill GFA boss & Sports minister

Credible information gathered by The Chronicle indicates that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will, this morning, dispatch letters to the Minister of Youth and Sports, Akua Sena Dansua, and the president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Mr. Kwasi Nyantekyi, inviting them to explain how bonuses meant for Black Star players had delayed, and the allegation that the players rejected the money because it was being paid to them in cedis instead of dollars.

The decision follows President Mills' reaction to recent Chronicle publications that players of the national team had rejected bonuses meant for them, because the money was in Ghana cedis, instead of dollars as promised by the President.

In an interview he granted The Chronicle last week Friday, President John Evans Atta Mills took strong exception to a report carried by the paper that the Black Stars players had rejected the bonuses he promised them, because the money was paid in Ghana cedis, and not US dollars.

"I have paid them in US dollars, and my ministers, especially the Sports Minister, can tell you. I have not reneged on my promise to them. I have paid them long ago," he stressed.

The Chronicle, however, prompted the President to do a little bit of background checking as the paper stated that if he did not hand over the money personally then he should probe into the issue.

Official sources contacted at the SFO confirmed that if two personalities were being invited for questioning, in connection with the Black Stars bonuses.

According to the source, the invitation letters were ready, and would be dispatched to them early this morning.

The Chronicle also gathered that apart from the controversial dollar bonuses, the SFO would also be questioning the duo over how the various sponsorships secured for the national teams were utilised.

The SFO would be looking -at the quantum of the sponsorship, and the utilisation vis-a-vis government's contribution to the management of the senior national teams.

The interrogation would also cover proceeds from the Metro TV, Rice Masters, Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited, Inter-Sports and PUMA deals.

The SFO would further be investigating the Glo sponsorship of the Premier League, and a revelation that a company was paid 10% agency fee at a time Glo had indicated that it dealt directly with the GFA, and not through any agent.