Was the timing of the Ashanti Gold SC demotion wrong?
Ghana football has seen its darkest ages since the Anas expose on Jun2 6, 2018 and efforts have been made to claw the country back to the spotlight in African football. New leadership was ushered in, led by Kurt Simeon Okraku. But have they been able to learn from anything in the past in moving forward?
The previous leadership of the GFA have had several cases against them at the law court after clubs failed to get their demands granted by the GFA Disciplinary Committee or Appeals Committee. Football issues were taken to civil courts and the start of the 2017/18 league season was threatened. As a result of those cases, Great Olympics and King Faisal were drafted back into the league to accommodate them and resolve all issues, which resulted in the 18-club league structure we have today.
Ashanti Gold and Inter Allies were accused of match-fixing during the final league game of the 2020/21 season, a match that produced a nine-goal thriller with two of them coming from Inter Allies defender Hashmin Musah. He deliberately put through his own net and was applauded by the Inter Allies technical bench for thwarting a fixed match.
Many calls were made for investigations to be carried out and the culprits punished. The GFA has now arrived at its decision and decided to demote the two clubs involved to the Division Two league while also suspending some top officials and players of the two teams.
This looks like a bold decision to sanitize the nation’s football system but it might as well be a deep pit that could swallow all the gains of the past years.
One of the clubs, Ashanti Gold is playing in the Premier League this season whereas the other, Inter Allies is playing in the Division One League. None of them has a chance of winning their respective leagues and both are not in real danger of relegation though they are not out of the woods yet.
Ashanti Gold had its league match against leaders Asante Kotoko postponed and the reason was that sufficient security could not be provided at the match venue for the derby clash. Kotoko had already spent a night at Obuasi in anticipation of the match and following the decision has written to the GFA requesting that all matches be halted until the postponed match is played. They also demanded compensation for the money they spent lodging at Obuasi. This is a possible grounds for a legal battle between the club and the GFA.
Ashanti Gold has a match against Bechem United on the last day of the league season and it is possible the integrity of that match would be low depending on what the table looks like ahead of that match. Other clubs which are fighting the drop will also play against the Miners and it has opened the doors wide for the integrity of those matches to be lowered.
Dreams FC and Elmina Sharks are both in the relegation race and have matches against Ashanti Gold. Ashanti Gold knowing very well that they have nothing to play for would not be faulted to lower their standards against these two teams. That is going to cast serious concerns over integrity and with them playing against the top two teams on the league table following the decision, there are high stakes. Goals matter in the race for the championship and with just eight points separating the two teams, there is much to believe that the scores in the remaining matches of the Miners could be outrageous.
These scenarios are not in any way to say the club would not want to at least say bye to the league with respect but you will not fault them for wanting to go down with everyone.
could the GFA have avoided this by holding on with its decision till the final match of the league season is played? Was it really necessary to come this early knowing that our football is still trying to find its feet after a tumultuous few years in the dark? We will see with time.
