Shame Onto RAG Hierachy

I sometimes look at the way some Ghanaians in high offices or positions behave and I pity them because most of them do not know what the future has in store for them and also they do learn from how life sometimes treats either them or others in this social environment. Quite a good number of them do not have any projections for the future and so they tend to do whatever meets their desires, needs and aspirations damn the consequence.

Ever since I started following football, I have become so passionate about the game that I feel so sad when the men at the centre of the game are ridiculed, beaten, insulted and or abused (in any form). I always stand behind them anytime my friends and I are at most of our stadia on weekends or during the mid-week matches. I love the game and so I will stand for it no matter what. Ghana?s qualification to the World Cup, to me, was like a ticket to Heaven. The torch in my heart is still burning even though the Mundial is over.

The referees in Ghana are always at the centre of a lot of controversies simply because most of them are not tried and tested and so they are not trusted. I have come to terms with the reality that quite a remarkable number of them who are good, but sometimes go overboard are not to blame, but rather the blame should be directed at the hierarchy of their Association which has been turned into a family, secret society or better still, a clan. Believe me. There are so many negative things going on in the Association at the moment that you either dance to the tunes of the hierarchy or you should forget about growing in it and realizing your dream of becoming a FIFA referee in future.

I want readers to study what I am going to talk about carefully and make their own judgments and comments. Ex FIFA referee Joseph Wellington was the first to adopt a bold approach to the rot in the Association, but his moves were short-lived. Anyway, I do not know whether he was silenced or he had his own agenda towards that cause. The referees? hierarchy branded him as the ?Judas? among the members of the ?Knight of the Whistle?. Wellington?s war on the rot in the Association heightened during the time of Mr. Ben Koufie as the Chairman of the FA when RAG boycotted the Premier League in demand for officiating fees which were in arrears and also an upward adjustment. Wellington stood firm and mobilized some referees all over the centres to officiate the matches. The situation then brought the FA and RAG at a round table conference to settle the impasse amicably. The FA then decided to adopt a system that operates in most FAs all over the world where the referees are managed very well by the FA and their own Associations are for social gatherings and other welfare programmes. The RAG with the connivance of some of the evil-minded football followers and or administrators moved heavens and earth to make sure that Mr. Ben Koufie does not stay long in office to achieve that and other great visions he has for Ghana football.

There was an article in the Graphic Sports some time ago about the National Instructor and the National Chairman of RAG. The article was about in fighting and personal agenda of these two people that eventually resulted in the removal of the Instructor from his seat and on came Mr. J.K.Boateng. To settle the issue or tussle amicably, the two agreed in principle to, institute some under-dealings. I believe the Chairman was aggrieved because the Instructor had manipulated the promotion system to favour his son - William, T.R.Y Attifu (He was though experienced) and George Seija at the expense of more experienced and the Chairman?s late son late Jonathan (May his soul rest in Peace). But smoking the peace pipe would require that they silence the Old man in the refereeing circle, Major Lamptey, whose son had never ever had any successful game, not even practice matches since he became a FIFA referee (Teams in Accra will tell you more about him). Yes, once the old man was settled, then, some of the Executives could also have their own way to manipulate the entire system. However, they could not do that without silencing Wellington with a seat in the Executive so he becomes tight-lipped about the rot in the system and also quench his ambition to become the National Chairman. Doing that was very simple the had to use bullying tactics to first of all kick Mr. Jonhfia out as the Chairman of the Referees Committee- the General Secretary will open his BIG mouth wide and say at RAG programmes and meetings that Johnfia is a Hockey man and has never held a whistle before. After making sure that the had re-defined the Referees Committee, they then restored Mr. Agbovi to his original position by way of accepting him as a prodigal son and to avoid a situation where the FA might use him and Wellington to accomplish what Mr. Ben Koufie had on the drawing board. Mr. J.K. Boateng was plucked like a Tick from an animal and ?poor, but principled? G.N.Manu was also removed and their seats offered to Mr. Agbovi and Wellington respectively.

As I talk now the only people who are vocal and could do something are Kwao Sampson and O.K. Amankwa, but they think these people just talk too much without any sense and so anytime Samson raises RAG issues, by the time he finishes talking about it he will then be talking about ?Kenkey and Fish? instead of the real issue. O.K. Amankwa is also only good at taking four (4) hour to wear his boots and hose in the referees changing room during matches and even worse when addressing issues at meetings and so people do not take these two guys serious. As I am talking now, the son of the General Secretary has been hatched and has started growing wings. Believe me, he will be promoted to FIFA after spending only about five (5) years in the Association. Yes, Wellington was further silenced by a scandal, which I will later talk about, and which involved some of his best friends and cronies. EWIASE YE HU.

Our game is always plagued with all sort of negative issues because so many stakeholders either look unconcerned or approach things in their own selfish interest. We have lost many good referees and we will continue to lose many more if we do not put the right structures in place. When referee Essel-Walker did a great job in the Hearts-Kotoko game at the Accra Sports Stadium, Wellington shamelessly came up on a Sports Beat programme and condemned Walker as though he Wellington is a Super human and the most celebrated referee in the whole world. I waited in vain for him to come to the same media to castigate FIFA referee Lamptey, the son of the Old man. Lamptey brought a whole unparallel TOP FOUR League into disrepute ? the ?YEMBO BIO? saga. The RAG hierarchy and people who matter about refereeing saw nothing wrong about that. That ghost hunts Lamptey up to date and may forever do that. Sometimes situations force people to act in a certain way. I do not want readers to think that I condone and uphold wrongdoing. I stand for fair play and justice. Retired FIFA referee Solomon Yamoah of Koforidua was a fine referee until he realized that his badge was the On-shore and not the Off-shore type. That means although he was a FIFA referee, he did not handle any International match, not even an International friendly. I stand for correction. The mounted frustrations forced Yamoah into his famous ?Boxing Tournament? at Swedru in a Premier League match. That brought shame not only to Yamoah, but the RAG and the entire football fraternity. I learnt he is now a front man for some of the referees for ?bribes? and his quotes are 30%-40% apart from his ?knocking fee? of an undisclosed amount. Mike Amedior had to retire pre-maturely because he was also an On-shore referee. WHAT A SHAME!. Referee Yanney of Saltpond was also a great referee who out of frustration, had to lie to the Disciplinary Committee over Nana Arhin Duah?s incident in a game in Tamale. I do not know whether money changed hands of his bread was buttered. If that happened, then the bread butters did not do well and Yanney did not also use his senses. However, we cannot do away with his frustrations from the RAG hierarchy. Hei !, it also a long time since I heard about referees Osamquaye and Akposu. RAG frustrated these people too. I think it was the same TOP FOUR, which protected Lamptey that sent Akposu into oblivion.

Out of the same frustration, a very nice referee who should have had a FIFA long ago instead of most of those wearing the badges and officiating games ? Ebenezer Ferguson had to take advantage of RAG?s unprofessional and archaic administrative structures to become a Visa contractor a la RAG leading to a big scandal which RAG has swept under the carpet, but have sacked or should I say discharged Ferguson from the Association. Ferguson could not pursue the case because it is a criminal offence the vociferous Wellington could not also say anything about it because like I earlier said some of his pals and very serious friends benefited from the scandal. I think all the referees who benefited from the deal knew that it was not genuine and so their head should have rolled with Ferguson. MO ANIM EGUASE.

During the 2004 Premier League season, referee Atikese was used for most of the high-raked matches, but when it came to the invitation for the FIFA course, his name was miraculously absent from the list. Referees McCarthy and Dowouna of Central Region and Accra respectively were lucky to wear the FIFA badge temporarily as we also saw. These two sent the RAG hierarchy nail biting when at that time T.R.K Attifu failed the fitness test and Amedior tendered in his letter for retirement. Let us ask what happened to their badges?. Despite his bad day in Sunyani about the famous substitution for Kotoko, his performance in subsequent games in that season was not bad. I have been following the list every year and for this year the names of these two referees and a couple of other fine referees are missing. What happened to that Lawyer referee?. Is he being too ? I put it to you? towards the hierarchy?.I leant referee Walker is now a Magistrate. I wish one of you steps into his court for even wrong parking. You will smell ?Kpapko Shito. ?ASEM BEBA DABI?.

The strategy the Rag hierarchy adopts is very simple. They use some people over a remarkable period of time up to when there appears a vacancy and they quickly bring in the people they want to give the badge(s) to. The method is very simple because the do not spell out any criteria for the selection and promotion to that rank in refereeing. Like I have already said, referees McCarthy and Dowouna were lucky courtesy Attifu and Amedior. Look at the list as per the invitation by the FA Secretary and you will you will see that some names have been dropped and others have been added. The have no justification whatsoever for that.

Readers. I will not spare the FA, for if the Executive Council and the Management Board were to monitor closely the nefarious activities of the RAG hierarchy, issues like this will never come up. Maybe the worse would have happened, as some of them being among the capos of clubs, sometimes prefer some of the referees to others. Lists are sometimes given to the Referees Committee to appoint some referees for specific matches for the season, otherwise Alex Quartey would have sounded a biteless warning a week or so ago. The whole thing is like ?KOKOFU BALL?. Passes go the people whom you know that once they also get the ball, they give you a pass. You see RAG prepares the list in someone?s bedroom and send to the FA which does not even go through and ask some questions about why names of certain very good referees have been used for sometime and dropped. The FA writes a cover letter and sends to the press. I will be glad if the FA could openly come out openly to say what they know about the list which Kofi Nsiah presented as though the FA prepared it. ASEM BI REBA.

I Challenge the RAG to come out to defend all the issues I have raised here before I bring others in my next article. I also charge the FA to stand up to what it is suppose to do to avoid a situation where some time to come, someone may decide to grind a hard stone with the hierarchy when that person feels justice has not prevailed. Let us all try to guard against a BOOM in the future. ABRABO YE BONA.

Samuel Amugi
Tesano, Accra.
email: samuelamugi88@yahoo.com