Fraud At C/R FA

…As Managers Of Asafo United Accuse GFA Boss Of Being In Bed With Mr. Doe By Citizen News Desk

The dwindling standard of Ghana football has reached its peak as corruption is cited to be the bane.

The connoisseurs of the game have now vowed to fight corruption from the top to the bottom to avert the trend as the President of Asafo United, a second division football club in the Central Region, Mr. George Papamikidis, has accused the President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi, for turning deaf ear and blind eyes to the massive bribery and corrupt practices that go on at the offices of the Central Regional branch of the Football Association.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Citizen Newspaper via telephone, Mr. Papamikidis, a Canada-based Greek business mogul, complained bitterly that he could not fathom why Mr. Nyantakyi persistently failed to intervene in the matter to forestall any unfortunate occurrence since he has personally reported the matter to him as the President of the Association.

“The computer illiterate Central Region FA and GFA Executive Committee member (Mr. Doe) has woefully failed to advance any developmental football objectives in the region, not only due to corruption, bribery and football malpractices that are detrimental to club and talent development in the region, but also his general lack of visionary leadership, and foresight and his departure from modern business trends”, he said. Mr. Papamikidis who doubles as the President and founder of CADIMA Sports in Canada, sports investor and international businessman, also with strong interests in Major League Soccer, Beach Soccer Futsal, Mixed martial arts and pay-per-view sports TV programme in North America, revealed that he has not only invested in the Asofa Stadium protect, but is also currently involved in the management of many top players and projects all around the world. He disclosed that he invested in players like Eric Bekoe (Petroject F/C Egypt) and Ishmael Antwi, all natives of Asafo, both of which have gone on to play for the national team at some point.

He was of the view that the Asafo community is in desperate anxiety for football action to return after the team’s attempt to register and play in the region’s second division was hampered by a number of issues between the club officials and Mr. Doe.

These issues, according to him, are very discouraging to him who had generously put thousands of dollars into building a stadium and infrastructure to provide kids in the town with alternative way to success in life.

Mr. Papamikidis noted that upon his visit to the community and observing income levels and social development structures, he invested heavily in constructing a state-of-art football pitch and arena for the club and community as a whole.

He said, being a parent himself, he invested to give the children an avenue to showcase their God-given talents, and a chance for children to develop, mentally and physically as well as develop healthy minds, body and souls to break depravity and lack in the region; something I believe will go onto give kids’ alternate route in life and at the same time take them away from criminal activities”, he said.

“I also saw that as an opportunity for kids to use football to get education on scholarships as most children were roaming the streets because their parents could not afford to put them through school, a divine project that would make his family and daughter extremely happy, as well as improve the lives of many others living in the region”, he asserted.

He indicated that the current team not only boasts of players from Ghana, but also players from Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroun and Burkina Faso, a project which, according him, was helping many Africans as well. He described the recent actions of Mr. Doe towards Asafo United Football Club as “very discouraging and disappointing.”

He noted that the people of Asafo are scared that these events would cause he (Mr. Papamikidis) to pull out his sponsorship. He believes that the behavior of Mr. Doe towards the club would lead to the crippling of the football club. He alleged that Mr. Doe has condoned with other clubs in the district to poach and sell Asafo United players with fraudulent documents. Attempts by the club’s officials to stop this activity were ignored by his office”.

He accused Mr. Doe of condoning with other teams and officials to rob and kick Asafo United F.C out of the second division league in the current campaign.

He averred that in the 2009/2010 season, the club was fined GH¢1,000.00 from yellow cards and red cards, adding that in the 2009/2010 season, the Vice President of the club, Mr. Kwasi Tuafo Donkor, demanded a refund after the season was ended abruptly with only 9 games played. This, according to him, created animosity between Mr. Tuafo Donkor and the RFA.

He pointed out that Mr. Doe refused to register the team for the current campaign due to an ongoing saga involving the RFA, All Blacks, Sinappi F.C, Kotoko, and Asafo United F.C. about the fraudulent transfer of Hubert Kwakye Ampah to Kumasi Asante Kotoko, “a player that the community collectively helped during his two and half years at Asafo United Football Club.”

He contended that the club and the people of Asafo feel cheated as Hubert was transferred to Kotoko without the club’s knowledge. Also, he took officiating and affiliation fees of about GH¢1,100.00 from the club and refused them entry into the current campaign”.

He has also refused to refund the money back to the club. This has infuriated Mr. Papamikidis and the supporters, and they are ready to take Mr. Doe and the G.F.A to court for a refund of the officiating and affiliation fees, and the money they spent on player preparation towards the season.

The club feels that the only way Mr. Doe would have allowed the team to participate in the league was to let him have his way by dropping the Hubert Case and the other corruption charges brought against him by the team’s officials.

“His administration is marked with corruption, and during all these years, he has refused to produce audited accounts,” Mr. Papamikidis alleged, adding that, “he has also run every election uncontested. As a result of this, he feels untouchable, and as such, has taken the laws of the game into his own hands.”

Source: The Citizen Newspaper (thecitizen.news@yahoo.com) +233 27 731 4655