Kwame Baah-Nuakoh: Government cannot control GFA without investing in football

Dr Kwame Baah-Nuakoh, Chairman of the GFA Club Licensing Committee, has argued that the government cannot expect to control decisions within the Ghana Football Association without taking greater responsibility for investing in the countrys football clubs.Speaking to Sporty FM, Baah-Nuakoh said the structure of GFA voting gives club officials significant influence, making it difficult for government to dictate how they should vote when it does not directly fund or control their operations.I had always said that he who pays the piper calls the tune. If you don’t invest anything in the game, don’t expect to have power or control, he said.He explained that the majority of those who participate in GFA elections are club officials, meaning their decisions are influenced by the interests and realities of the clubs they represent.The majority of the people who do the voting are club officials. Right. It’s tilted towards club, he added.Baah-Nuakoh said government would need to invest more directly in clubs and the domestic game if it wants greater influence over football governance.So if the government doesn’t have a say in what happens to clubs, how they are invested, what kind of investment is made, how the local game is run, and that individuals have to go and look for just their own money to come and run their clubs, he said.He questioned why government would then expect club owners and officials to follow its preferred position when it comes to GFA elections and decision-making.And then when it comes to decision-making, you now want to tell them how to vote, Baah-Nuakoh added.His comments come amid renewed calls from some stakeholders for major changes to the administration of Ghana football, including demands for the GFA to be dissolved following the Black Stars’ poor start to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.The debate has also raised questions about the extent to which government can intervene in the affairs of the GFA without conflicting with the independence requirements governing football associations.



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