Ghana Football Association’s (GFA) General Secretary, Prosper Harrison Addo, has described match-fixing in football as a major international problem faced by many footballing giants in the sports fraternity.
Mr. Addo acknowledged that the issue of match-fixing in football affects the integrity of the game and it has been one of the FA’s major mandates to clamp down on such activities in the country’s football.
According to him, investigations into activities of match-fixing are no joke and the FA is putting in the necessary efforts to curb such activities.
“Match-fixing in football is not a Ghana problem, it is a problem internationally. When Ghana had issues with match-fixing, FIFA and CAF were very strict on us every week wanting regular updates on the matter. Countries like Portugal implemented criminal policies to also deal with such issues and I think Ghana will have to look at also implementing such a policy. Investigations into match-fixing take a lot of work. The GFA will undertake this conversation with the state to see the way forward,” he said in an Exclusive on Happy 98.9FM’s Happy Sports.
Ghanaian football was struck by a match-fixing scandal in May last year where top-flight clubs, Ashanti Gold and Inter Allies were hit with demotion to the third tier. Players and officials of both clubs heavily sanctioned.
The fixture between the two sides in September 2021, ended 7-0 to Ashanti Gold, with Hashim Musah scoring two own goals as he apparently tried to prevent a pre-arranged 5-1 scoreline.
The game was investigated by the Ghana Football Association (GFA), who found both teams guilty of match manipulation.
By: Ahashie Judeliver Eli
