I stand by my position -Nyantakyi

The President of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi says he still stands by the substance of his outburst that there were underhand dealings in the transfer of Ben Acheampong, who sealed a three-year move to Petro Athletico of Angola after the 2011/2012 season, just a year after joining Kotoko from Wa All Stars.

“I still stand by my position that the co-operation agreement over the transfer of Ben Acheampong was a ploy to cheat and a ploy to conceal part of the income accruing to the club.


“If there was a previous co-operation agreement between Kotoko and the club I would have had no problem, but a cooperative agreement cannot spring up just because there is money to share”, he stressed.


The GFA boss added that his apology to the Manhyia Palace and former Kotoko chief executive officer, Dr. Kofi Kodua Sarpong and Kwame Baah-Nuako was purposely for the unkind words he used and the manner in which he used them, but not because he was wrong on the player’s transfer saga as reported by the Graphic Sports in the Monday Special Edition.


“I used those undiplomatic words out of anger because of Baah-Nuako’s accusation that I went to gossip to the Otumfuo about Kotoko’s player tranfer deals, and I have apologised for that, but the substance of my complaint on the $100,000 co-operation agreement still remains unchanged.


“My position has not changed and when I went to the GFA Ethics Committee I didn’t waver on that. Wherever I go from here I will still stand by that”, he emphasised.

In an interview with the Graphic Sports in Accra yesterday, Mr. Nyantakyi reiterated that he did not grant an interview to Kumasi-based Metro FM to deny the substance of the matter as was reported by this paper.


“It is unfortunate that Graphic Sports will publish a story like this without consulting me to cross check. I never spoke with that radio station and I did not make those statements attributed to me in the story. I only granted an interview to Happy FM in Accra”, he said.


He mentioned that Dr. Sarpong told him that Acheampong’s transfer fetched $150,000, but he later found out that the total amount was $250,000 and that meant that $100,000 had gone into individual pockets, which he opposed.


He also revealed that when Kotoko transferred the player, they did not inform him (Mr. Nyantakyi) that there had been a co-operation agreement of $100,000 on the player, but he got to know about it from Angola and later confronted the Kotoko executives.


He also said that the agent who brokered the deal for the said transfer was paid 15 percent on the $250,000 as commission, while 10 percent of $150,000 was given to the GFA but the player’s club was not given what they truly deserved.

“My interest in this case stemmed from the money that Wa All Stars were denied through the deal and also as President of the federation I believe that if this practice is encouraged, many clubs will be denied income by clubs who transfer their players”, he said.


Mr. Nyantakyi further stated that he decided not to take legal action against Dr. Sarpong and Kotoko due to the respect he has for Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who is the owner of the club.


“I did not litigate because I thought that good reason would prevail on them to have a change of mind, but it didn’t happen so for the sake of posterity I think that we have to look at it and take a position on the matter”, he emphasised.


Under the agreement between Kotoko and All Stars, the Wa-based club were entitled to a percentage in the onward transfer of the player from Kotoko to another club, and this was where he accused Dr. Sarpong of foul play.


Meanwhile, Graphic Sports’ Kwame Asare Boadu, who filed last Monday’s story from Kumasi, still stands by the fact that he heard of Nyantakyi’s apology on Metro FM in Kumasi and not Accra-based Happy FM as being pointed out by the FA boss.