He has been banned by FIFA for 15 years
Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe said Anas' investigations were planned
Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, a former president of the Ghana Football Association, has stated that the ordeal that befell Kwesi Nyantakyi during his time as the GFA President was planned by his detractors.
According to him, the investigations by ace journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas were problematic.
He said, some people by virtue of the positions that they occupy had the opportunity to 'clean' themselves leaving Nyantakyi to suffer alone.
Speaking on the findings of Anas' investigation dubbed 'Number 12', Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe stated that, if Anas was very credible, he would have first shown to the general public what his findings were and not the ‘big men’ but since he did otherwise, he is of a firm belief that the investigations were planned against Kwesi Nyantakyi.
“In investigative journalism, the idea is to spring surprises. If you have been able to gather your information and certain names have been mentioned, you don’t disclose it to the people [whose names were mentioned in your investigations],” he explained on Metro TV’s ‘One On One’ show, Monday, April 25, 2022.
Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe added, “in that particular programme [Number 12], the President’s name was mentioned, the Vice’s name was mentioned and other people…you hold [your findings] to your chest and let the public be the first to watch; that is why you are an investigative journalist.
“The moment those at the top of the affairs, whose names were mentioned [see it] they will take measures to clean themselves and that is what happened in Number 12.
“A lot of people believed in that gentleman [Anas] that he was doing a clean job but to me, no. I have been following carefully too. Why do you disclose your findings before the general public gets to know about it?” he quizzed.
“Those who were affected were able to clean themselves and then unfortunately because Kwesi Nyantakyi is defenceless, everybody left him and he faced the problem. But I can tell you that it was planned by his detractors,” Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe observed.
He noted that, the former GFA President was not particular about certain things.
“When they set up a trap, you should be able to know it. Because the boy [Kwesi Nyantakyi] was climbing gradually but for that problem, he would have been the first African to head FIFA. So, what the Speaker (Alban Bagbin) said is true,” Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe stressed.
Background
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, recently said that the former GFA President was good for Ghana football despite being implicated in a bribery scandal that ended his reign.
“When we were able to bring down Kwesi Nyantakyi, we also brought down Ghana football. That is one of the brightest spots at FIFA”, Bagbin said in a meeting with Parliament’s press corps on Monday, April 4, 2022.
Alban Bagbin noted further that some persons within FIFA were surprised at Kwesi Nyantakyi’s fall from grace.
“When I met the executives of FIFA.. they said, what happened? Why did you people do that?” That he [Nyantakyi] was a dynamic addition. The value that he carried at their meetings…he was highly respected and very influential, and Ghana football was up there.
“We thought we were only handling Nyantakyi. We didn’t know we were handling the whole of Ghana,” Mr. Bagbin lamented.
“Criticize us. Correct your children, but don’t break their hands or their legs. It will affect you. And that is where we are now, and people are calling on the government to forgive Nyantakyi and bring him back to assist,” he stressed.
In June 2018, Kwesi Nyantakyi was filmed taking $65,000 in cash in an undercover report by journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas for BBC Africa’s investigations unit, Africa Eye.
Kwesi Nyantakyi was pictured placing money into a black plastic bag from an undercover reporter who was pretending to be a businessman exploring investment opportunities in Ghanaian football.
He was first given a life ban by FIFA after the documentary, which Kwesi Nyantakyi fought against.
But despite having previously denied any wrongdoing, he confessed to breaching conflict of interest rules.
He made these admissions when an appeal was heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
Following his appeal, Cas reduced Nyantakyi’s lifetime FIFA ban from football to 15 years, while also lowering his fine of $500,000 to $100,000.
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Former GFA Capo, Kwesi Nyantakyi