President of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG), Kwabena Yeboah has called on the country’s football governing body, the Ghana Football Association (GFA), to jail referees if they are found culpable of taking bribes ahead of games. . Referees officiating in the Ghana Premier League have been accused of playing a key role in bringing down football in the country as a result of their alleged bribe-taking attitude.

Speaking in an interview with Class Sports, the ace broadcaster says to restore the fortunes of Ghana football and the local league, corrupt match officials should be jailed.

He said: “When you have a situation where some of the clubs are so keen to bribe referees and are ready to pay beyond GHS20, 000, it means they are not helping the game. I think the FA should be more proactive in instituting measures to fish out these corrupt guys and if it means that some should end up in jail, so be it.

“We have seen these practices in South Africa where they were very keen on eliminating some of these corrupt practices. Homes of referees were searched and those who were found culpable ended in jail. We saw this in Europe, especially in the Italian Serie A where referees went to jail and I think once we recognise that this is a canker destroying our football, we must take the bull by the horn and address it strongly”

Touching on the difficulty in finding a headline sponsor for the Ghana Premier League, Mr Yeboah said: “We know that too many matches are predetermined and we are talking about an issue of sponsorship. When your league is dirty and there is much rot in it, you don’t expect sponsors who normally want their products to be associated with cleanliness to come and link up with that so it is an area where the Ghana Football Association must address with all seriousness.”