Mr. Amaju Pinnick, Executive Council Member of the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has called for peace among aspirants ahead of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) elective congress slated for Thursday October, 05, 2023 in Tamale.
The former President of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) was part of FIFA’s committee who would be supervising the much-anticipated elections.
With 48 hours left, the issue of Mr. George Afriyie’s dismissal from the elections still hangs unresolved after the elections committee of the GFA revealed a breach of conduct during his nomination process.
This had generated lots of controversies as to whether the elections would be held as stated or not, following a rumoured injunction by the former GFA vice president.
Speaking at a presser on Monday, Mr. Pinnick said “It is my responsibility that there is peace and strict adherence to our statutes. As a football stakeholder, you have to take it upon yourself not to jeopardize the process by following a due process to the end”.
The former CAF Vice President noted that football was the only means of bringing the nation together as one, hence the need to play a major role in making the election successful without any interference.
He urged aspirants to be cautious of their actions so as not to attract sanctions from the world football body and would also tarnish the image of football in Ghana.
“If aspirants rather work together, football would develop in Ghana. Let’s keep an open mind, and at the end of the day we would all applaud what would happen.”
He urged the media to be cautious and fair in their reportage in order not to fuel any misunderstanding among participants of the election.
The former NFF President commended the elections committee of the GFA for their commitment in making sure the elective congress was on the right path to success.
Mr. Pinnick as part of making sure the GFA was ready to head to the polls held meetings with Mr. Mustapha Ussif, Minister for Youth and Sports, Kwaku Agyenim-Boateng, Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture and other stakeholders.
He would later on be joined by Gelson Fernandes, Director of Member Associations for Africa at FIFA,Silmara Sousa, Development Program Coordinator, FIFA Member Associations Africa and Ahmed Harraz, Senior MA Governance Services Manager, FIFA MA Governance.