Sports Ministry in GFA ?seat? vow

The ministry of education and sports says it will seek audience with football?s world governing body, FIFA, to explain the need for government to have representation on the new look Ghana Football Association.

The ministry under the new dispensation will have no representative on the GFA Congress.

It is expected that the sports council members on the legislative body will represent government?s interest.

But FIFA has even questioned the presence of the three NSC members and the fact that they will have voting rights.

A deputy minister of education and sports, O.B Amoah, told Joy Sports the ministry has charged its three-man advisory committee to articulate its views on representing government?s interest in the administration of the Ghanaian game.

According to Mr Amoah, government is far too influential an interest group in the development of football in Ghana to be cut off totally from the administration of the game.

?The ministry doesn?t agree to this and we?ve made our point clear even to the FA. Beyond that, we think we should seek audience with FIFA and put our case across.?

The deputy minister said: ?Our position isn?t peculiar in Africa because other afircan countries have made it clear that as governments we play a major role in sports in Africa.

We take care of infrastructure, security, and the national teams. Even the national premier league is sponsored by Ghana Telecom a company with majority of its shares belonging to government.?

?Therefore it is not for FIFA to make a blatant statement that government shouldn?t have any say in how football is run when we spend more than any other body. The repercussion of our noninvolvement is far more than FIFA can imagine.' O.B concluded.