Abedi Pele to contest Ghana FA presidential elections

Legend Abedi Pele will challenge Kwesi Nyantakyi for the presidency of the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

Elections for the coveted post will be held in May and efforts are already underway to get the three-time African Footballer of the Year to contest for the post.


The ex-Ghana captain has told close friends and allies that he is preparing to wrestle the position from the newly elected CAF Executive member.


Another loyalist of ‘The Maestro’, Cudjoe Amankwa, a Ghanaian journalist based in South Africa, has already told a section of the media in that country that Abedi is the next Ghana FA boss.


The revelation promises to make the race exciting as Nyantakyi is seen as the run-away favourite with no serious contender for the post.


Nyantakyi, who is seeking a second term in office, faces a challenge from ex-Hearts of Oak CEO Vincent Odotei, who has already declared his interest to fight for the position.


Odotei, who failed to get even one vote when he contested Nyantayki for the post five years ago, is not seen as a serious contender.

Abedi Pele will be seen as a contender to be taken seriously by the Nyantakyi camp as the legend will be counting on his record as a footballer to land him the post.


Nyantakyi’s achievements of transforming the Ghana FA with lucrative contracts for the national teams and the league as well as sending the country to two successive World Cups will count in his favour.


Abedi previously served as the vice president of the Ghana FA in the early 2000s and he is now a member of the Public Interest Committee of the Ghana FA.


He made a failed attempt to represent the Ghana FA in the recent CAF elections in Sudan, a challenge Nyantakyi fended off before he winning the CAF Executive committee position.


Pele, a three-time African Footballer of the Year, was an official ambassador for the 2010 World Cup but after the tournament his involvement in football has been limited.


He is also a member of the football committee of the game’s world governing body Fifa and has a football club in the second tier of Ghana football called Nania FC.