Overall he made some good points, but then Sepp Blatter had to go and resign and ruin everything.
Ghana FA boss Kwesi Nyantakyi is outraged by calls by some foreign football chiefs about Africa’s continued support of Sepp Blatter. The votes of most African football bosses, and those in Asia as well, went to Blatter in the last vote even though he was under suspicion of corruption; and that rankled some people in Europe and America.
But Kwesi Nyantakyi, speaking to the BBC, said it was insulting to be asked why they voted for to soon to be ex FIFA boss.
“It’s very irritating for someone to ask me why I voted for Blatter – why shouldn’t I? I think it’s a case of a lack of respect for Africans.
People don’t think we are capable of forming independent opinions and thinking on our own.
They think Africans are corrupt and have to be influenced to make a decision.
This is very unfortunate and I think there is a need for more respect for Africa and the fact that we can take our decisions”
He also did not like suggestions that some big nations should have more influence in the running of the game. Some people have suggested that the one country one vote system should be scrapped, to give bigger countries more say.
“I think they want to push a United Nations system and create [something like] a security council and invest some with the power of veto,” he continued.
“We don’t need that in FIFA – [the current system] is what has bought unity and development in football to this level.
“I don’t think that countries in Europe are bigger than all the countries in Africa in terms of economic might or even in terms of soccer prowess and so forth.
“There are teams like San Marino who get beaten 6-0 in World Cup qualifiers and they are all playing.
“We also have smaller countries in Africa, CONCACAF and Oceania but the beauty of all is that football preaches equality.
“Every country is equal before football and that is very good – let’s continue like that.
“To begin to make unreasonable requests such as investing some countries with the power of veto or giving them more votes than the smaller countries in Africa will begin to shake the very foundations of the values FIFA is built on”
Of course Nyantakyi speaks well and makes lots of good points, but that doesn’t cover the problems of corruption plaguing the FA. Much like FIFA, in fact, the GFA is a closed system that can cover a lot of things.
With the news of the impending resignation of Sepp Blatter though, I wonder if he’ll be wondering ‘maybe I spoke too soon’.