CAS lifts GFA’s ban on AshantiGold & Inter Allies players in match-fixing case
Sanctions given by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) have been overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which found in favor of the players engaged in the alleged match-fixing game between AshantiGold and Inter Allies two seasons ago.
The Ghana Football Association’s Disciplinary Committee had penalized 21 players, 14 of whom played for AshantiGold, for their suspected involvement in tampering with the outcome of a Ghana Premier League encounter on match day 34, which AshantiGold won 7-0. Hashmin Musah, an Inter Allies player, stated in a post-game interview that he scored two own goals to thwart the match-fixing scheme.
The players were, Stephen Owusu Banahene, Dacosta Ampem, Frank Akoto, Agyemang Isaac Opoku, Amos Kofi Nkrumah, Eric Esso, Moses Kwame, and Solomon Afriyie receiving two-year fines for their involvement. Defenders Samed Mohammed and Seth Osei were given 30-month bans for their major roles in fixing the game. Additionally, Emmanuel Owusu, Mohammed Bailou, Amos Addai, and Paul De Vries Asare were handed 48-month bans for failing to appear before the Committee despite being invited.
The Professional Football Association of Ghana (PFAG) appealed the GFA’s decision to ban the players to CAS via the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPro) in order to contest the penalties. The players were permitted to register for the 2022–23 season in order to continue playing competitive football while the case was being considered and decided by CAS.
Following several months of consideration, CAS has officially declared that all of the player sanctions have been revoked. The penalties have been reversed, and the players are free to take part in any football-related activities.
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