Sports, Politics and Power: Why Ebo Quansah and Friends Are Wrong on GOC Issues

Part 1

As a former national athlete and an individual who dedicates significant amount of time and resources to sports development in Ghana, I feel obligated to respond to Mr Ebo Quansah’s recent article titled “Jungle War-fare Shamed the Republic”.

This article was in response to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recent endorsement of Prof. Dodoo as President of Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC)

In his article, Mr Quansah levels criticism, overtly and covertly, at several entities including Professor Dodoo, the current government and, IOC (indirectly).

Mr Quansah may be a veteran sports journalist but his creditability and understanding of the issues are more than wanting. His credibility does not extend to sports governance, sports development, and service to nation via sport at the highest level on the field.

Obviously, he has written lots on the latter issues. However, he is out of his element when he chooses to take on sports development, including governance, with individuals who have a record of excellence in all three areas.

I contend that Mr. Ebo Quansah is either at best, obscuring relevant facts which provide meaningful context and at worst, being hypocritical. Either of the two scenarios opens him up to potential charges of conniving with the likes of Frank Appiah to subvert democratic dispensations in sports by willfully misleading readers.

An Inconvenient Truth Critics Avoid

Politics has, and will always, be part of sports. Politics in sports is no different than in other areas of life including national governance. However, the guiding framework is; playing politics within clearly established and accepted rules such as those outlined in constitutions and relevant charters.

The lack of recognition or the lack of courage to publicly acknowledge this basic fact, in my opinion, is grounds for automatic disqualification from any intellectual and meaningful discussion on how to move sports forward in Ghana.

Far from what Mr. Quansah would like his readers to believe, it is not anomalous for national politics to taint sports governance. All prominent international sporting organizations including IOC and IAAF recognize this fact. Don’t’ believe me? Look within IOC and IAAF ranks; Mario PESCANTE (IOC Executive Board), Lamine DIACK (IAAF President) etc.

Political affiliation or holding office in a political party does not automatically disqualify an individual from participating in governance of a sporting organization.

Indeed, IOC echoed this very fact in numerous cautions to BT. Baba and Frank Appiah leading up to the 2011 GOC Congress. Since Mr. Quansah availed himself to serve on one of the illegally (according to IOC) constituted GOC congress committees setup by BT. Baba and Frank Appiah, he must have known about this.

The seemly authoritative posture Mr Quansah adopts in his writing leads readers to believe he clearly understands democracy in sports. If he does, then it should have been abundantly obvious to him that BT. Baba and Frank Appiah were breaching a fundamental democratic, as well as (GOC) constitutional principle.

Yet Mr. Quansah for all his experience and assumed authority on sports governance and democracy in general availed himself to a process meant to subvert democracy.

Mr Quansah has little to no credibility by willfully ignoring a basic democratic principle; candidates for any election cannot unilaterally create handpicked committees to oversee the very same elections they plan to stand in as candidates.

Spare me the any talk about B.T. Baba not being a candidate. Practically all other GOC executive board members, and “ghost members” run as candidates.

Also, do not attempt to bore me with charges of “disunity among GOC ranks”. Appiah and the other candidates who choose to commit electoral suicide by willfully departing the Congress venue before it was over represent (executives) three out of 32 national associations. Nine percent of the GOC general assembly is hardly a substantial minority worth this brouhaha.

Sane individuals familiar with this saga should also not bother advancing the question; what about the other GOC executive board members who stood as candidates? They are irrelevant!!!

Although incumbent executive board members have the legal right to stand as candidates, both the GOC constitution and the IOC Charter make it abundantly clear that power at the NOC level lies with representatives (executives) of the national federations i.e., general assembly.

By logical extension, Frank Appiah and all other former GOC executive board members who no longer represent national associations should have the least amount of influence on the wishes of the general assembly. IOC in the run up to congress warned BT. Baba and Frank Appiah several times about this fact and demanded they meet with the general assembly to sort out nomination issues before October 29th. Baba and Appiahs’ response; IOC has no power to tell us what to do!!!! We will accept only some of their suggestions.

Obstinately, Baba and Appiah tried to rely on powers granted by the GOC constitution which were superseded by powers granted to the general assembly to unilaterally impose a flawed nominations process on the general assembly. It makes absolutely no sense; IOC warned them about this in at least 3 separate communiqués.

To understand how GOC got into this mess one needs to examine politics in sports.

Part 2: Politics in Sports Not a Problem: Political Miscalculation is the Problem

Politics in sports was not the root of the GOC saga. What was unacceptable in the eyes of pragmatic institutions including IOC and other IFs was violation of statutes laid out in constitutions and charters. Circumvention of protocol enshrined in statutes is a “no-no”; something Ghanaians were painfully made aware by the 8-month IOC suspension in 2011.

Despite his offhand acknowledgement, I think Mr Quansah in his recent article “Jungle War-fare Shamed the Republic” would like us to forget Prof. Dodoo’s stellar record as an athlete (20 yrs), national call-up in 6 different sports, coach (15 yrs) and sports administrator. Rather, he would like us to focus on his political affiliation as if that were the only important criterion for judging his competence and the GOC election results.

Mr. Quansah assails Prof. Dodoo without explaining to readers why Dodoo’s so-called political affiliation is a problem when IOC and IAAF have endorsed him.

At a time when non-NDC members have been made ministers of portfolio’s as significant as finance, Dodoo’s advisory role to the president is irrelevant. The red herring called “dual-citizenship” is a non-starter and disqualification from intellectual discussions concerning the best way to move the country forward.

Put aside sports for a moment. Prof. Dodoo is a very accomplished man in areas that go beyond sports such that any well-meaning government would consider him to serve in capacity(ies) as needed. Even if he is affiliated with NDC, did BT Baba not claim the same party allegiance?

I sincerely hope that Mr. Quansah is not at a stage in his career where basic objective analysis of the situation and a logical interpretation of the facts elude him. Perhaps, he no longer cares about logic in his writing.

Interestingly, despite Mr. Quansah’s insinuation that Prof. Dodoo has his hands in many pots, he (Dodoo) is successfully managing a national association at a level not seen before in Ghana; 2011 rLG Ghana Athletics Grand Prix. I wonder whether Mr. Quansah has bothered to ask Prof Dodoo how he is juggling these many responsibilities successfully. He played multiple sports for Ghana and managed that.

For the record, I would like to disclose the following; I supported Prof. Dodoo as a candidate for GOC presidency. As an athlete, Prof Dodoo served as my mentor and coached me to break two national records in the long and triple jump, including his own national record. The latter still stands; 12 years and counting.

Both NPP and NDC Got it Wrong from the Start

Mr. Quansah would lead one to believe the National Democratic Congress (NDC) bulldozed Prof. Dodoo to the helm of the GOC while ignoring IOC rules and regulations during the recent congress. Suddenly, the likes of Mr. Quansah have become experts at when and under which circumstances IOC should accept NOC elections. In essence, they are posturing as though they have a better understanding of the IOC constitution than the IOC itself.

Both major political parties in Ghana, NDC and NPP (New Patriotic Party), got this wrong when presented with initial opportunities to bring Ghana Sports into the 21st century.

Where NPP Went Wrong but Got Away with It

Ghana’s recent collision with IOC began under the previous NPP government. Things were set into motion in November 2008 when Ghana Athletics Association’s (GAA) elective congress was ruled illegal by the former Minister of Sport Hon. O. B. Amoah.

His justification for subverting the democratic process at the national federation level was predicated on the existing national law (SMCD 54) and its legislative instrument (LI 1088).

LI 1088 put the power of appointment onto national associations firmly in the hands of the Minster for Sports. In essence, the government of Ghana fully controlled the structure and staffing of national associations.

Yet, what OB Amoah and by extension NPP, and later NDC, failed to acknowledge was that the outdated LI 1088 still gave room for democratic process at the national association level. Ghana Football Association (GFA) had been going to Congress under the very same law since 2005.

When presented with the same rationale that GFA successfully argued to justify holding elective general assembly, OB Amoah chose the wrong side of history. He decided to hide behind a so-called National Sports Bill which was not even law at the time to justify his actions. I remind readers that this bill, initiated around 2002 is still under development 9 years later.

O. B. Amoah, and by extension NPP, decided to suppress democratic dispensations at GAA despite the GFA precedent and a promise he (O.B. Amoah) made to the President of IAAF in 2005.

In 2005, O.B. Amoah promised Mr. Lamine Diack, President of IAAF, that Ghana will allow for elective general assembly at GAA by 2008. This promise was Ghana’s offer of pacification after incurring IAAF’s wrath when he, O. B. Amoah, appointed Mr. Sandy Osei-Agyemang as Chairman of GAA against IAAF constitution requirements’.

Coincidentally, O.B. Amoah’s letter justifying suppression of democratic dispensations was copied to both Mr. BT. Baba and Mr. Ebo Quansah. Neither of them voiced any concern. Yet when the current NDC government erred and pulled the same maneuver as NPP both Mr. Quansah and Mr. Baba acted as though the sky had fallen. Even more telling and damming for Mr. Quansah, Prof Dodoo was a candidate in the very election that O.B. Amoah prevented from taking place.

Therefore Mr. Quansah should spare people like me the phony stance of supporting democracy in sports. He has absolutely no credibility on this issue unless he can produce equivalent evidence of publicly standing up for democracy when it mattered most i.e., 2008.

NDC Blindly Follows NPP and Pays the Price

Logically, approximately 2 months after NPP shut down attempts at democratic dispensation at the national association level, NDC came into power and adopted the exact same line as NPP. That is, NDC justified the appointment of individuals to national association executive boards citing legal authority from LI 1088.

Unfortunately for the NDC government, Mr. BT Baba realized that the newly appointed executives could end his unopposed 12 year reign at GOC. Keep in mind that BT. Baba got to his current post by virtue of appointment to a national association by a previous NDC government. He has claimed himself that he is NDC. Yet, he cried foul and reported that matter to IOC.

In-line with its Charter, IOC quickly intervened. Direct government interference in National Olympic Committees (NOC) via direct appointments to national associations is a cardinal sin.

In the haste to protect its franchise in Ghana, IOC mistakenly assumed that an established system of democratic dispensations at the national association level was under assault by the current NDC government; the assumption IOC had from the complaint made by the GOC was that BT Baba and his team had been elected to their national associations before getting onto GOC, but of course we know that nothing like that ever happened in Ghana (except in football) until 2010.

The NDC government and the newly appointed association executives did not help themselves by holding up LI 1088 as the justification for actions that were clearly in violation of the IOC charter. The assumption was that if NPP could appoint under LI 1088 and not incur the wrath of IOC, then the NDC government should be allowed to also exercise its authority under the same national law.

In advancing the LI 1088 argument, the NDC government probably hardened IOC’s support for Baba. Even as biased observers like me touted the equivalence argument, I could not ignore the implications of IOC letting results from the disputed 2009 GOC congress stand. It would reinforce the cycle of appointments.

Cunningly, Mr. Baba and Frank Appiah strung IOC along into believing the current NDC government was bypassing existing democratic process, even though there had never been elections at the association level. This, I believe, was the primary reason why IOC came out forcefully to affirm BT. Baba and his executive board as the legitimate GOC stewards.

IOC realized its blunder during the November 2009 Roadmap meeting with the feuding parties but, again, rescinding its support for Baba at that point would have indicated tacit support for Ghana’s system of appointments.

Thus, Baba and his executive board were grandfathered in to manage GOC affairs while the government of Ghana put in place necessary structures to protect the Olympic movement in Ghana.

The Inconvenient Truth for Ebo Quansah, Frank Appiah and OB Amoah Here is a simple fact that Mr. Quansah for reasons I will leave readers to speculate about will not admit to; any national party in power has some inherent advantages in the democratic process. However, the inherent advantage does not automatically translate into more votes or getting its way. You don’t need a Ph.D. to figure this out.

As I mentioned earlier, the question when examining actions of a party in power is; did the action(s) violate or circumvent existing law(s)?

Without a strategic forward-looking vision, taking advantage of short-term inherent legal advantages by a political party in power can mean sacrificing long-term benefits even when not in power.

In 2008, NPP as the party in power was in position to lead (advantage) Ghana sports into the 21st century. It could have endorsed formidable candidates it thought could lead national sport associations and allowed relevant constituents to vote in a free and fair elections. The former NPP government would have had the inherent advantage of helping national sport associations institute democratic processes from scratch. Unfortunately, O.B. Amoah chose the short-term advantage by consolidating his hold on power over national associations.

In 2009 NDC was also presented with the same opportunity to lead Ghana sports into the 21st century. It initially chose the same route as NPP but unlike NPP it ran into a juggernaut; the IOC.

After being whacked around by IOC, the Ministry of Sports realized it was to the collective benefit of the country and the current government to allow national sporting associations to freely elect executives. After all, one is more likely to garner freely given support if constituents believe your actions empower them.

Part 3: The Real Issue for Mr. Quansah, OB Amoah and Frank Appiah

In his recent article on the GOC sage titled “Jungle War-fare Shamed the Republic”, Mr Quansah’s craftily avoids detailing his real opposition to Prof. Dodoo.

What Mr. Quansah and others of similar mind are really griping about is defeat at the hands of individuals who they believe have no business ascending to positions of power in Ghana sports.

I also think they have trouble accepting they got out-maneuvered by Prof Dodoo and his colleagues. By October 29th, 2011, Dodoo and his fellow association presidents had a better grasp of the GOC constitution and IOC Charter than Baba and co who were supposed to be stewards of IOC. Armed with relevant legal knowledge and relevant documentation, including IOC directives, Dodoo and the other association presidents closed all potential loopholes that Frank Appiah and candidates aligned with him could exploit for personal gain.

Think about this; the IOC/ANOCA observer sent to witness the October 29th Congress knows BT Baba and Frank Appiah personally. Therefore, how easy do you think it was to the IOC observer, to call issue after issue in favor (interpretation) of national sporting executives i.e., GOC general assembly?

Contrary to what Frank Appiah would like Ghanaians to believe, Dodoo and co were triumphant because in the end, Appiah and his minority ran out of maneuvers. The only hope they had was to flee congress before the elections. Which rational candidate would leave an elective general assembly before it formally closed? Only a desperate or ignorant candidate will disenfranchise him or herself by exiting before formal closure.

I contend that Appiah and his fellow candidates were both desperate and ignorant in failing to realize that boycotting congress under their own free will was tantamount to suicide. They are also not even smart enough to keep their mouths shut post congress.

Consider this; Frank Appiah and Mohamed Shanoon are both on record as stating "He [IOC/ANOCA representative] was just there to only observe and report and not to conduct elections." DID YOU GET THAT? The man had no role in the running of congress yet you (Appiah and co) vacated congress premises because the observer took a break?

Going back to Mr. Quansah, he may be blinded by motives beyond my imagination but as late as October 29th, 2011, it was clear to the vast majority of Ghanaians that free, transparent and fair GOC elections was the furthest thing from BT Baba and Frank Appiah’s mind.

Worst of all it must be embarrassing to have been on the wrong side of history. IOC initially stepped in to protect the integrity GOC in a political charged atmosphere. Yet in the end, the leaders of the very institution IOC sort to protect were brazenly suppressing democracy at the same time they were thumbing their noses at IOC. BT Baba and his team were arrogant enough to state in a public forum that they did not recognize the IOC’s authority!

I wonder how embarrassed the likes of Jacques Rogge (IOC President) and Pere Miro (NOC Relations Director) must have felt in Lausanne reading Baba’s proclamation that they (IOC) had no business telling GOC what to do.

Unfortunately, likes of Mr. Ebo Quansah hitched his wagon to that of BT and Appiah, for reasons best known to himself, by joining their contemptuous action against the very process they requested IOC protect in Ghana.

If Mr. Quansah his friends feel fired up about pseudo-democracy in sports, they should go have a beer with BT Baba, Frank Appiah and OB Amoah to figure out where they went wrong. My analysis could be a good starting point.

In the meantime, Ghana is moving forward; two and a half years was more than enough time for BT Baba and Frank Appiah to get their acts together. Time has moved on, and with it the relevance of Quansah and the likes of him; we saw his articles on the GFA issues a few months ago.

It is truly sad to see a person who had earned so much respect in the arena of sports journalism throw it all away.