Former Ghana Football Association president Ben Koufie claims those accusing the present FA board of embezzling money from the 2006 world cup are themselves thieves.

Koufie told Citi FM in the midst of the raging storm about relations between the football association and the sports ministry that a lot of the demands for accountability of monies from the 2006 World Cup were led by people who cannot believe that anybody would be honest with the sort of money Ghana made from the tournament.

Even though the GFA account from the 2006 World Cup has been audited by the auditor general of Ghana and presented before parliament, suggestions of embezzlement have not gone away.

“Those making the allegations are thieves who would have stifled away the money and can’t believe there are people who will be sincere with them,” he said.

“This is an account that has been looked into over and over again but there are people some of whom were found to have badly misconducted themselves in the past who won't let the matter rest."

Koufie also defended the right of the of the GFA to react to the allegations at a press conference insisting that it needed to clarify the issues and not allow them to become truths in the eye of the public.

“Those in charge of the FA are young men beginning their careers. The president works with a reputable bank and then one morning his boss wakes up to read that he inflated cost of hotel bills and pocketed the difference. You know how that would make him look?

“They needed to respond to it because people feel that when you are at the GFA you must cope with anything.”

Koufie is also adamant that while government can influence decisions of the football association, it will be interfering with the work of the team if the ministry orders a reconstitution of the management team without any knowledge of the GFA.