The National Division One League has been rocked by a bribery allegation only two games into this year’s competition. Bofoakwa Tano say someone claiming to act on behalf of their regional rivals, BA United, attempted to bribe four of their players, including a goalkeeper, in the build-up to their crucial derby on Sunday.
Bofoakwa lost by a lone goal and picked up eight yellow cards and a red card in a highly charged game, but the Tano club say they will hand in evidence to prove someone from BA United had attempted to influence the game before kick-off.
“Someone from their club called our players and attempted to influence them. When they called us, we gave them mobile phones to record the other conversations which we will hand in as evidence to the Ghana Football Association,” J.Y Appiah, a director of Bofoakwa told KickOffGhana.com.
But BA United’s Chief Executive Charles Ntim told KickOffGhana.com that they will support police and GFA investigations into the matter.
“We will happy for the police and the GFA to investigate this but it is important to note that in the build-up to the game all sorts of allegations were made against us. I am confident we will come out clean from this.”
Appiah, who formerly headed the Ghana League Clubs Association, says bribery is a problem across board in Ghana football.
“It is a serious case to attempt to influence a game so we really want the GFA to investigate and make up its mind. It is high time that sort of thing stopped because it is a problem all over Ghana football that we have not had the courage to face yet.”
The national division one league which only recently netted a new sponsorship and television deal has long suffered credibility problems with clubs often complaining about underhand dealings.
