Former Ghana Football Association (GFA) vice-president George Afriyie has called for comprehensive reforms in Ghana football, arguing that changes to the association’s governance structure must go beyond the issues currently under discussion.
Speaking on Sporty FM, Afriyie said the GFA needed to address deeper structural and administrative concerns to improve accountability within the country’s football governing body.
“We need to do proper reforms,” he said, insisting that the current debate should focus on broader institutional changes.
Afriyie also questioned whether individuals who had benefited from opportunities provided by the GFA would be willing to speak critically about the association.
“Takyi has been taken to America; he went on a ticket of the FA to America, went to Poland, so why wouldn’t he speak like this?” he asked.
He argued that such concerns reinforced the need for reforms that would strengthen governance and ensure greater accountability within Ghana football.
The former GFA vice-president also criticised the work of the Normalisation Committee established during the country’s football crisis in 2018, suggesting that it had failed to address some of the underlying problems.
Afriyie raised concerns about the powers exercised by the GFA’s Executive Committee (ExCo), arguing that it could make important decisions without sufficient reference to Congress.
“You see now, they’ve even given certain powers to the ExCo. And you know, the ExCo has been reduced from 24, 23, to now about 12. Now, the ExCo has powers to do a lot of things, without reference to the Congress of the Ghana Football Association,” he said.
The Normalisation Committee was established by FIFA in 2018 to oversee the GFA’s daily operations, review its statutes to ensure compliance with FIFA and CAF requirements, and organise elections under revised statutes.
Afriyie further alleged that the GFA had registered two companies and questioned how representatives and shares had been allocated.
“As we speak today, the GFA has gone to register two companies. Two. They’ve chosen their own representatives on the company registration and given shares to an outside company,” he alleged.
“These are the things that are facing Infantino as we speak,” he added, referring to FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
His comments come amid renewed calls for changes to the administration of Ghana football, with governance, accountability, and the distribution of decision-making powers among the issues under scrutiny.
The GFA identifies Congress as its supreme legislative body, while its Executive Committee is responsible for overseeing the association’s affairs within the powers provided under its statutes.
