2014 World Cup ‘rot’ not my focus – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the report of the Commission of Enquiry that established some questionable transactions in Ghana’s 2014 World Cup preparation, has never attracted his attention since assuming office.
“I have forgotten about the 2014 paper…it has not been very much on my radar,” the president confessed when he was asked a question by Patrick Osei Agyemang popularly called Countryman Songo during the presidential encounter with the media at the Flagstaff House Banquet Hall, Wednesday.
The past administration in June 2015 released a white paper on the report of the Presidential Commission of Enquiry set up to probe Ghana’s 2014 World Cup fiasco.
The three-member Commission was chaired by Appeals Court Judge, Justice Senyo Dzamefe with members such as Sports Administrator Moses Foh Amoaning and sports enthusiast Kofi Anokye Owusu Darko.
In the paper, the government said it had accepted the recommendations by the Commission to surcharge all persons associated with malpractices from the preparatory stage to the end of the tournament.
An events and marketing agency, E-Volution International employed to organize four public viewing centres for the matches was found to have breached its contract.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) government endorsed the recommendation of the Commission for the activities of Fan Parks produced and managed by E-Volution International to be further investigated and “any net income accruing from it be paid to the state with interest at the prevailing bank rate.”
But nearly three years down the line not much has been done to implement the recommendations of the Commission.
Asked about what his government was doing about the Commission’s report, the president said it had never been part of his plans.
He, however, assured the Sports Minister will go through the document and duly counsel the government on what to do.
On the alleged mismanagement at the Ghana Football Association (GFA), president Akufo-Addo said it was not the function of the government to decide how the Association is managed.
Seeking refuge under FIFA’s rules and regulations concerning member associations, the president charged football pundits to address the challenges in the Association.