The Appeals Committee of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has dismissed George Afriyie’s appeal against his disqualification to contest the GFA presidency later this year.
“The invalidity of any document cannot be cured by reference to article 8(3) of the Elections Regulations. Indeed, if Mr George Kwasi Afriyie had submitted invalid Tax Clearance Certificate or invalid Police Clearance Certificate, it would have made his nomination invalid,” the Committee said in its ruling to Mr Afriyie on Monday, a ruling JoySports has sighted.
The Committee agrees with the position of the Elections Committee that Mr Afriyie’s nomination form for the presidential elections did not meet the requirements.
George Afriyie, a former vice president of the football governing body was disqualified from contesting this year’s elections after one of his subscribers, Victory Warriors FC, used an official who is not a registered signatory of the club.
This was revealed to committee by a petitioner who stated that, Jeffrey Asare, who signed on behalf of Victory Warriors FC as Director of the club was not a signatory of the company, contrary to article 13(j)(2) of the GFA Statutes 2019.
Further investigation by the committee indeed showed that Mr Asare has no details at the Registrar of Companies or GFA as a signatory of the club, hence invalidating his nomination form, which required five signatures or endorsements.
Mr Afriyie appealed the decision on September 8, 2023, calling on the Appeals Committee to reverse the ruling of the Elections Committee.
He stated that it breached rule of “Natural Justice and Fair Hearing” of his candidature when it failed, neglected, and refused to apply article 8(3) of the FA regulations on elections.
He said that Committee misdirected itself on the law of requirements to contest for the GFA presidency and also misapplied article 8(3) of the GFA Regulations on Elections and article 13(2)(j) of the GFA Statutes 2019, thus, describing the disqualification as erroneous.
Aside from this, the Elections Committee, which is supposed to be comprised of five members per article 54 of the GFA Statutes 2019, were six during his vetting, and this, he says, is contrary to the mandated composition of the panel.
However, the Appeals Committee noted that the said sixth person is an “…in-house lawyer of the Ghana Football Association. The Lawyer was not part of the Vetting Team and did not ask George Kwasi Afriyie any question. The Lawyer provided administrative assistance to the Committee.”
It added that, “The nomination form for the position of president of the Ghana Football Association is standard form that makes provision for five members only to support a valid nomination. There is no portion on the form that allows for more than five (5).
“The Committee notes that George Kwasi Afriyie included a sixth Statutory Declaration from another person who had not who had not supported his nomination. This document is irrelevant as it is not from a GFA member indicated on the nomination form as supporting Mr George Kwasi Afriyie.
“We note from the written submission of George Kwasi Afriyie that he is asserting that he provided six members supporting his nomination. This is not true. The only members submitted in support of his nomination are only five.
“…the standard form make provisions for only five therefore Mr George Kwasi Afriyie cannot assert that he provided six because he submitted six statutory declarations.
On these grounds, Appeal Committee agrees with the reasoning of the Elections Committee, thus, dismissing his appeal.