President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kurt Okraku, has firmly denied allegations suggesting he manipulates the outcome of the Ghana Premier League to favour certain clubs.
The accusations, which imply that Okraku determines which team wins the top-tier league, have surfaced during his second term as GFA President.
However, speaking in an interview with Metro TV, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) 2nd Vice President dismissed the claims as baseless.
“I operate within the space as the president of the Football Association. For those outside the system, it may seem as though I am all-powerful, that I control everything in Ghana football. But that’s far from the truth,” Mr Okraku stated.
Okraku emphasized that his role is to oversee the governance of football in accordance with established statutes and structures that safeguard the independence of the association’s various bodies.
“My role is to lead in governance and to ensure that we run football based on laid-down statutes and structures. These give independence to various organs within the FA. It is not for me to decide who gets relegated or who wins titles. That is the job of the clubs, their players, coaches, and technical teams.”
Highlighting the importance of performance on the pitch, Okraku noted that a club’s success or failure is determined by how well it is managed and how competitive it is during the season.
“Clubs and their owners must build strong teams, hire capable coaches, and ensure that they are competitive on the pitch. If you are not competitive, unfortunately, you may suffer relegation. If you are competitive, you could end up winning titles.”
To reinforce his argument, Okraku pointed to his own football investments that have faced relegation, despite his leadership position.
“I’ve personally seen my own clubs go down. Dreams FC has struggled, and I’ve lost two or three investments to relegation. Dreams Tamale, Still Believe have suffered relegation. If I truly had that kind of power people speak of, wouldn’t I have saved my own investments?” he quizzed.