THE revelation by a Canadian author and investigative journalist, Declan Hill, last Monday that some Ghana national teams, particularly the Black Stars and the 2004 Black Meteors, may have thrown some matches as part of match-fixing has been as shocking as it has been embarrassing, not only to football fans but to most Ghanaians as well.
It is, therefore, heart-warming to know that the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MoESS) has acted with despatch to get the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to investigate the allegations in order to get to the bottom of it, put the issue to rest and spare Ghana from being looked at with scrutinising eyes any time a national team goes into action.
It is in this vein that the Daily Graphic commends the MoESS for requesting the BNI to conduct further investigation into the matter. We are, however, surprised at the way the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has come out to rubbish the allegation, and dismissed it without giving it any serious thought, despite the issues raised in the book, ‘The Fix’, and which has been made public on the Internet.
Ordinarily, it would have been easy to dismiss the issue just as the GFA has done, but the claims made by Hill in his book and in a subsequent interview granted a German magazine are too serious to be ignored or wished away.
Against a football giant like Brazil, it was possible that the Stars could have won or lost and in this case, they lost 0-3. Information from Hill again traces these match-fixing allegations to the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, where the Meteors, needing only a draw to make it to the next level, lost to Japan, who were on their way home any way. In both cases, Hill said he had a link man who predicted those scorelines.
Also, is it mere coincidence that the former national goalkeeper, Abubakari Damba, who, until last year, was also an assistant coach of the Black Meteors, has been so indicted?
Of all the people in the country, why did it have to be Damba, who, just last year, also was accused of a similar offence in fixing the international friendly between the Meteors and their Iranian counterparts in Tehran?
And what happened to the GFA’s investigations into that case?
Once the investigations begin, the Daily Graphic hopes that all stakeholders would help the authorities to unravel the truth as it is not only the individuals implicated whose integrity is on the line, but also the entire image of the country.
This scandalous news is the least Ghana needs, especially at a time the nation’s image has soared around the world, particularly due to the sterling performance of the Stars during the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
The Daily Graphic would urge the authorities investigating the allegation to expedite action on the task that has been assigned them in order to clear the names of the innocent and come out with punitive measures against those they find culpable.
Ghanaians and the teeming supporters of the national teams, particularly the Stars, need to be given a clear conscience to support their national teams, for without the support base, football would not be exciting and unless the truth is established about the match-fixing allegations, fans may be reluctant to fully support the national teams.
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