Veteran football administrator, Kofi Manu, has waded into the non-inclusion of Isaac Asiamah, former Youth and Sports Minister, in the list of President Nana Akufo- Addo’s Ministerial nominees.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Atwima Mponua was left out and a new person appointed after serving as the Sports Minister for the past four years.
His ‘dismissal’ came as a surprise to many football enthusiasts. Under the leadership of Mr Asiamah, 10 austro turf pitches were constructed across the regions.
But according to the former Ghana Football Association Player Status Committee Chairman, Mr Manu, Mr Asiamah deserves this ‘dismissal’ due to the visa scandal that hit the country ahead of the Olympic Games that was held in 2019 in Australia.
He also stressed that some of the utterances by Mr Asiamah during the 2019 Afcon in Egypt were needless and therefore he was not stunned by the ‘dismissal’ of Mr Asiamah.
“Isaac Asiamah is my friend but I knew he will be booted out from office as the Youth and Sports Minister,” he told Adom TV on Agro Ne Fom.
“If you look at what happened in Australia, it was embarrassing. The scandals were swept under the carpet but President Akufo-Addo was clearly not happy.
“During the 2019 African Cup of Nations [Afcon] in Egypt, Asiamah made some utterances which were absolutely needless and at the end of the day, Ghana could not win the trophy. So for me, I knew there is no way Hon. Isaac Kwame Asiamah will be retained as the Sports Minister,” he added.
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The Australia Visa Scandal arose after 50 people, who paraded themselves as journalists, were refused entry into Australia for the Olympic Games by their Immigration Service after sufficiently failing them.
About 50 people, who posed as journalists from Ghana, were denied entry into Australia for the games for failing to meet the criteria set for journalists.
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has nominated Mustapha Yusif, the former Executive Secretary of the National Service Secretariat as the Minister of Youth and Sports-designate.
The MP for Yagaba Kubore will replace the former Sports Minister, Mr Asiamah.