GFA demote Ashanti Gold to Division two
Inter Allies and Ashantigold banned
AshantiGold left-back, Samed Mohammed, has said the 30-months ban imposed on him in relation to the AshGold-Inter Allies match-fixing scandal is flawed.
According to Samed, the Disciplinary Committee did not provide any evidence of him betting on the fixed score-line.
Speaking to Precise FM, Samed said emphatically that he has never engaged in betting in his life, denying he played a role in the match-fixing scheme.
“The verdict is not right because they can never get any evidence against me that I staked a bet on that game because I have never staked a bet in my life and they can never accuse me of playing a match of convenience because whoever knows me can attest to how I treat every game equally,” he said as quoted by sportworldghana.com.
He added that the committee was unfair with the sanction, citing that an Inter-Allies player who scored two deliberate own goals was handed 6 months.
“I’m very worried about this decision and very confused. I think the committee has been very unfair to me because there were 22players involved in the game so where are the others who were not charged? The player that scored the two deliberate own goals has had his ban reduced to six months."
Samed flared up with frustration and feared the possible ramifications on his career.
“They have been very unfair to me, I’m a footballer and how do they expect me to do now, how do I earn my daily bread? I now understand the assertion that not all prisoners are guilty of their crimes."
“It could be that the match was a match of convenience but I knew nothing about it, all that I knew was that I was playing my league game and nothing else."
In the highlights of the fixed match, Samed was seen questioning then Inter Allies coach, Felix Aboagye for submitting Musah after two own goals.
Explaining the scene, Sammed said: “I did not insult the Inter Allies coach but I only confronted him to ask why he substituted the player to score the two own goals, he insulted me and I retorted that ‘he is a disgrace.”
Samed is among the 14 AshGold players who were found guilty in relation to the match-fixing scandal.
The Defender was handed 2-and-a-half years (30 months).
background
In the 2020/2021 Ghana Premier League season, AshantiGold beat relegated Inter Allies 7-0 at the Len Clay Sports in Obuasi on July 17, 2021.
A video of the goals went viral and among the 7 goals were two deliberate own goals scored by Allies defender, Hashmin Musah. The own goals which sparked claims that the two teams played a match of convenience.
The GFA subsequently charged both teams.
The Disciplinary Committee of the Ghana Football Association on Monday, May 16, 2022, demoted AshantiGold and Inter Allies to the Division Two league after both clubs were found guilty of match-fixing.
Some administrators, coaches, and players of both teams were all charged.
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AshantiGold left-back, Samed Mohammed