By Andrew Warshaw in Belo Horizonte
June 23 – The first match-fixing scam surrounding a country participating at the World Cup – though not linked to any of its actual matches here – has been fiercely denied by Ghanaian officials.
The Black Stars, just like four years ago, have made a number of friends with their performances on the pitch, albeit not winning ones though they so nearly upset Germany, but have been embroiled in allegations off it.
The Ghanaian FA has called in the police to investigate claims made in a joint undercover investigation by Britain’s Channel 4 programme Dispatches and The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
But GFA president Kwesi Nyantakyi told the BBC: “The contents of the publication are not wholly true.”
The undercover investigation identified two people, one a licensed agent of FIFA and the other a Ghana club official, who said they could fix friendly matches involving the national side.
None of the claims involve matches at the World Cup which FIFA confirmed last week had so far not been targeted by fixers.
The report claimed that Nyantakyi himself had “agreed for the team to play in international matches that others were prepared to fix” but he insisted: “I have not agreed to any match-fixing deal involving the FA.”
“I was given a draft contract which I indicated to their agent that I hadn’t read and I also had some issues with it and so it will be premature for anybody to say the FA is at fault.”
When news of the investigation first broke on Sunday, the GFA issued a statement saying it had called in the police to investigate two people for misrepresentation. A statement said: “The Ghana Football Association has requested the Ghana Police Service to investigate two persons for misrepresenting the GFA with an attempt to defraud.
“The two were also allegedly filmed claiming that they would bribe GFA officials to ensure that the contract is signed. We wish to state that the GFA did not sign the contract as we waited for the response from the legal committee and that the two gentlemen did not make such corrupt offers to the GFA or its officials.
“We wish to assure the public that we will not tolerate such misrepresentations and we will seek strong sanctions against such individuals if such claims are found to be true.”
The GFA added the matter had been reported to Fifa and the Confederation of African Football.
FIFA confirmed that a report from the GFA is under consideration.
A spokesperson said: “We are aware of the media reports and have been contacted by the Ghana Football Association on this matter. In line with standard procedures, FIFA’s Security Division is evaluating the matter.
“It is important to note that we have no indications that the integrity of the FIFA World Cup has been compromised.”
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