OVER the past few weeks, the DAILY GRAPHIC has followed with keen interest a story our sister paper, the Graphic Sports, broke over the controversy that has surrounded a multi-million dollar deal between Globacom, an international telecommunications company on one hand, and the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and Midsea Company Limited on the other.
While the GFA maintained that Midsea Company Limited, a construction company, acted as its agents in the deal worth $15 million — i.e. $3 million a year — for five years for the Premier League and were to be paid a 10-per cent commission out of which $450,000 had so far been paid, the directors of Midsea denied knowledge of such a transaction, saying they had neither dealt with nor received money from the GFA.
Given the murky nature of what was in the public domain, the DAILY GRAPHIC was not surprised to hear that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had invited the GFA to its offices on September 13 for a full briefing on the matter.
However, only yesterday, the management of Midsea, represented by their solicitors, Ayine & Felli Law Firm, confirmed it, indeed, transacted business for the GFA with regard to the Glo deal.
In a statement the solicitors said Midsea, led by its Managing Director, Anthony Cole, accepted to act as agents when approached by a South African-based company, Afrisat, which began the negotiations.
The statement further said Afrisat, working on behalf of Gateway Broadcasting Services (GBS), a South-African originated pay-per-view television that had the media rights to the Premier League, had to abandon the job when GBS folded up after going bankrupt.
Midsea also said despite the fact that the deal was outside its area of core business, it accepted to act as agents “ with a view to enhancing the financial fortunes of the company in the face of a slump in the real estate market”.
But in the face of all that, it is highly interesting that Globacom, the international telecommunications company, headquartered in Nigeria, a major stakeholder in the issue, has totally denied dealing with a third party in the GFA deal, stating emphatically that “Glo did not allow third parties when dealing in corporate transactions”.
Given the position of Glo and also the way the matter has gone back and forth, the DAILY GRAPHIC strongly believes the matter is far from over and really welcomes the intervention of the SFO.
We think it is in the interest of all the parties involved in the deal, and the image of the GFA as an entity and the public at large that this matter is thoroughly investigated in order to name and shame the culprits.
For far too long, football administration in the country has not been subjected to enough public scrutiny and this unique opportunity offers the platform to hold the administrators accountable.
No comments:
Post a Comment