Executive Council Member of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Nana Oduro Sarfo, has strongly responded to recent comments by the Minister for Youth and Sports, Kofi Adams, who described some Ghana Premier League club owners as ‘clueless’.
The Minister made the remarks in the wake of violent incidents that disrupted the match between Basake Holy Stars and Nations FC.
Nations [FC] players and officials protested against a second contentious penalty awarded to the home side.
The game ended prematurely following an outbreak of chaos, during which Nations FC owner, Kwame Kyei and his son, Divine Kyei, were reportedly assaulted.
Reacting to the happenings on Adom TV’s Fire for Fire, Oduro Sarfo condemned the Minister’s statement, arguing it was ill-informed and inappropriate for someone in his position.
“I don’t think the Minister for Health will stand in the public and criticise owners of private hospitals and tell them they are clueless. If the Minister for Sports understands football, he wouldn’t have said some club owners are clueless.”
Oduro Sarfo acknowledged that the GFA also bears some responsibility, admitting the Association failed to properly orient the new Minister by providing key documents and policies.
“I will blame the GFA, including myself. When he came into office, we should have given him the code of ethics, disciplinary code, statutes and regulations of the FA.”
He also questioned the Minister’s grasp of football governance, particularly regarding match reporting procedures.
“I heard him saying he is waiting for the match report. From who? The match reports come to the GFA, not the Minister.”
Oduro Sarfo further appealed directly to the Presidency, urging reforms in the Ministry of Sports to ensure more effective leadership.
“I will plead with the President of Ghana to make the Sports Ministry active so that Ministers will get something to do and not talk about things they don’t know. If the Minister of Sports was [sic] doing his job well, the various sports stadiums would not be in a deplorable state.”
Meanwhile, the GFA has announced that it has launched an official investigation into the violence that occurred at the Ayinase stadium.