GFA presidential elections: George Afriyie to fight case at CAS
Abdul Salam Yakubu, the President of Division One side, New Edubiase United, has hinted that George Afriyie, a presidential aspirant for the Ghana Football Association (GFA), may pursue legal action at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if his appeal against disqualification from the upcoming elections is not resolved favourably.
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Mr Afriyie, a former vice-president of the GFA, has set his sights on unseating the current head of the football governing body, Kurt Simeon-Okraku. However, his candidacy was abruptly halted when he was disqualified from the election originally scheduled for September 27 in Tamale.
The Elections Committee disqualified him last week, citing a breach of Article 13(2)(j) of the GFA statutes and a failure to secure the required number of supporting members for his candidacy.
Mr Yakubu, who is a member of Mr Afriyie's campaign team, informed the Graphic Sports last Friday that their candidate had entrusted the matter to their legal team, who are diligently preparing to file their appeal on Monday.
He characterised the disqualification decision as a calculated manoeuvre attempt to ensure that the current president runs unopposed. He asserted that they would go to great lengths to halt the election process through legal means if the appeal does not rule in their favour.
If necessary, they are prepared to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport based in Switzerland.
He asserted that Mr Afriyie and his team would go to great lengths to halt the election process through an injunction if the appeal did not yield a favourable outcome, or even consider approaching the Switzerland-based sports tribunal for redress.
“We have already brought our lawyers on board, we met yesterday, and they said they want to take their time and study the case so they can file on Monday.
He claimed that even before the committee's verdict was announced, there were widespread rumours that Mr Afriyie, who had contested the previous GFA presidential election in 2019, would be disqualified. This, in their view, appeared to be a deliberate strategy to hinder their candidate's chances.
“There won’t be an election, we have to go to court to put an injunction on the election then we go to CAS”, he responded to a question as to what would happen if they don’t get the needed judgment.
Mr Yakubu also raised concerns about the potential implications for the GFA's leadership if the dispute remains unresolved close to the election date. He pointed out that if the matter persists beyond the 26th, the scheduled election date, it could lead to a vacuum in leadership, with the tenure of both the FA president and the GFA Executive Committee members expiring.
“If by the 26th and we are still in court then there won’t be any election, then it means his tenure has expired and he can’t continue to carry himself as president and the Executive Committee. Maybe the GFA General Secretary would take over or we may revert to normalisation,” he explained.
