Soccer News of Monday, 1 December 2003

Source: GNA

Rashid Bawa unhappy with GFA

Honourable Rashid Bawa, Minister of States in charge of Education, Youth and Sports has expressed dissatisfaction about the Ghana Football Association's (GFA) deduction of points from the build up of Obuasi Goldfields in the on- going Kinapharmah Premier League.

The Minister who described the decision as unbelievable said "I find it strange the ways things are being handled and from today, I am offering myself for explanation as to the logic in the decision," he stressed.

He said he stood to be convinced why the same association whose representatives were supposed to have checked on the documents on the registration of the player in question, okayed the player but now turned back to propound different theories.

" I have been getting sleepless nights for sometime now thinking about the way forward as far as the way forward of our game is concerned," he lamented.

The minister said he was convinced that good structures, preparation and good decision are the key to developing the growth of our football.

The Appeals Committee of the Ghana Football Association deducted 12 points from Goldfield's build up for fielding an unqualified player in their games against Accra Great Olympics and Real Tamale United respectively.

The player in question, Valentine Atem, a Cameroonian import was said to have played for the club at a time he had no work and residence permits.

As a result the "Abuakese" lads who were occupying the fourth position of the league table, a position that could have gain them entry to the lucrative Coca Cola Top 4 Competition, are now wallowing at the bottom ranks of the sixteen-team league.