Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin
Ghana's second Deputy Speaker of Parliament Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has blamed corruption for Africa's five teams flopping at the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Russia.
“Systemic corruption in Africa means that most people who are more qualified to be selected into our national teams do not get the opportunity," said Bagbin, who is from Ghana's main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
"Team slots are sold to the highest bidders.
"You may get away with it in your little corner, but when you reach a place like the World Cup where others have only selected their players on merit, you will be exposed,” he said during an interaction with journalists in Accra, the capital of Ghana, on July 3.
His statement comes at a time when an undercover investigative report by journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has exposed shocking corruption in Ghana football and in other Africans countries.
Bagbin, who is the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament and a long-serving Member of Parliament, said local referees were so corrupt that some accepted money and even farm animals like goats in exchange for wrongly officiating matches, including awarding bogus penalties in order to help some teams.
All five African teams who qualified for this year's global soccer showpiece - Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Senegal - could not progress from the preliminary stages of the tournament
