CAIRO: The international football association FIFA has given Ghana 72 hours of there will be “adverse consequences” after the country's Football Association headquarters were raided this week. The world football governing body said that the issue would be taken to an emergency committee, which does have the power to impose suspensions if there are no changes on the ground by Sunday. The row erupted on Tuesday when plain-clothed officers from the country's Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) raided the GFA headquarters. The GFA said the subsequent removal of computers and mobile phones had brought it to an administrative standstill and on Tuesday, it suspended all football-related activities until further notice. Meanwhile, FIFA – which takes a dim view of third-party interference in the running of a FA – has sent a second warning to Ghanaian authorities. “FIFA recognizes that the Ghanaian government audits the GFA accounts, but only related to the attribution of public funds,” said the football body in a statement. “This excludes funds coming from other sources, such as FIFA or CAF (the Confederation of African Football). “However, due to the (EOCO) move, the GFA had to stop all its activities, including the running of the league or other development programs. “For FIFA it is not acceptable if the GFA is not in a position anymore to exercise the core of its mandate, which is to run football in the country, because of government intervention.” On Wednesday, Ghanaian clubs voted to pull their members out of the league, bringing domestic football in the West African nation to a standstill. The GFA has not given reasons for the raid but noted authorities had two months ago requested information on all sponsorship contracts signed by the GFA. It added that it had sought extra time to gather the documents but had not received a response. BM
