Ghana FA chief rubbishes Chelsea bribery reports

Ghana football authorities have strongly rubbished reports in the Tunisian media that a meeting took place to fix the result of the match between Berekum Chelsea and TP Mazembe.

The two sides met in Accra in their final Group B match with the Ghanaian side winning 1-0 even though they could not qualify to reach the semi-final.

But the Tunisian media has reported that the leaders of the DR Congo club offered their Ghanaian counterparts some money to win the game.

A report on the Tunisian website Gnet stated that it had reports of the bribe being offered by the three-time African champions to fix the result in their favour.

But Ghana FA chief Kwesi Nyantakyi, who was at the game, condemned the report insisting the match was played in a competitive spirit.

"This mischief being perpetrated by a section of the media must stop. It is damaging to the integrity of the clubs," Nyantakyi said when asked about the report.

"I was at the match and the two teams gave a good account of themselves. The supposed team which was said to have been bribed won the game.

"It is only unfortunate that Berekum Chelsea did not have the chance to go through otherwise this result would have taken them through.

"I am in a shock as to why people would want to throw mud at Berekum Chelsea with this very negative report when we should be congratulating them for their strong performance and strong finish in this competition."

Despite the defeat TP Mazembe qualified for the semi-final after Al Ahly could only manage a 1-1 draw against their local arch rivals Zamalek.

Ahly finished top of Group B with 11 points and will face Sunshine Stars of Nigeria in the semi-final.

Defending champions Esperance of Tunisia, who finished top of Group A, will thus face TP Mazembe.