Deputy Sports Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide, has welcomed his suspension from office by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo with the hope that he would be exonerated after a probe into the circumstances that led to the arrest of some 60 Ghanaians who had allegedly attempted to enter Australia by false pretenses in the ongoing 21st Commonwealth Games.

Mr Hadzide and the Acting Director General of the National Sports Authority (NSA) Robert Sarfo Mensah were on Thursday, 12 September 2018 suspended after preliminary investigations was conducted into the visa scandal.

Reacting to his suspension on Ekosii Sen on Accra-based Asempa FM shortly after the announcement, Mr Hadzide said he knows nothing about the scandal or how the 60 people who faked their identities got visas to Australia for the games.

He said he had not been called before any investigative body, but, being the head of the international games committee, was enough basis for the president to ask him to step aside.

He added, however, that: “After the investigations, they’ll realise that I know nothing about it and I’ll be exonerated.”

Meanwhile, the president of the Ghana Olympic Committee, Mr Ben Nunoo Mensah, the Board Chairman of the NSA Kwadwo Baah Agyemang and the chef-de-maison for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Mr Mohammed Shanoon have also being recalled from the games to assist in investigations currently being undertaken by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police service.