FIFA has warned the government to withdraw the court action seeking to dissolve the Ghana Football Association by Monday, 27 August, 2018 or face its wrath. World football governing body says it will ban the country from all football activities that would affect next month's Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Kenya if the Attorney General does not discontinue its action of seeking to dissolve the Ghana Football Association. Football in the country came to a halt in June after government applied to an Accra High Court to dissolve the local football governing body claiming the entire football structure was engage in corruption following the Anas investigation without justifying it claims. The court action is deemed to be government interference in the sport as the laws of FIFA prohibit governments from interfering in the activities of football federations. FIFA has now written its warning letter to the Sports Ministry citing various breaches of its statutes by government and that a ban will follow if the action is not reversed within two weeks. "The Bureau considers that the petition introduced by the Attorney General to the High Court of Justice to Start the liquidation process of the GFA constitutes an undue interference in the affairs of the GFA in contravention of art. 14 par. 1 i) and art. 19 par. 1 of the FIFA Statutes," the FIFA letter to the Ministry of Youth and Sports on Monday. "Under these circumstances, the Bureau based on art. 16 par. 1 of the FIFA Statutes decided on 11 August 2018 that if the petition to Start the liquidation process of the GFA is not withdrawn by Monday, 27 August 2018 at 12hOO (CET), the GFA will be suspended with immediate effect. "The suspension would be Iifted only once the above-mentioned petition is withdrawn and FIFA is given written proof thereof. "In accordance with art‘ 16 per, 3 of the FIFA Statutes, if the GFA were to be suspended, it may not exercise any of its membership rights (Cf. art. 13 of the FIFA Statutes)‘ Furthermore, other member associations could not entertain Sporting contact with the GFA." If the authorities fail to comply with this latest directive, Ghana would be handed a worldwide ban, meaning no club or national team can compete in international competitions. The action will also prevent Ghana from hosting of the Africa Women's Championship which is scheduled to be held in the country from November. The Attorney General headed following an explosive revelation by investigative journalist Anas Armeyaw where some officials and referees were caught on tape taking bribes. The exposé led to the resignation of Ghana FA president Kwesi Nyantakyi who was captured on tape receiving $65,000 'gift' to agree a sponsorship deal with supposed investors- something he is contesting in court claiming it was a refund of his expenses. He resigned on Friday, June 8, after FIFA handed him a 90-day provisional ban from all footballing activities. Over 80 referees and football officials were involved in the bribery scandal which has rocked the GFA.<doc-sep>Nigeria and Ghana are both facing international suspensions from FIFA after a final warning was issued to the African nations over outside interference in their football associations. FIFA announced on Tuesday that the Nigerian football federation headquarters must return to its elected leadership by Monday or the country will be suspended from all international competition. With NFF president Amaju Pinnick in Russia for the World Cup, the building was taken over last month by a group claiming a Nigerian court order had given them control of the federation. The suspension would prevent all Nigerian national teams from taking part in international competitions, but FIFA did say it would make an exception for the Nigerian women's under-20 team, which will be allowed to complete their participation at the World Cup in France. Image: The Nigeria U20 Women's team will be allowed to continue playing at the World Cup Ghana has been given until August 27 to reverse a court order dissolving the country's football association. The government made the order after widespread corruption in Ghanaian football was revealed in an undercover documentary, which captured GFA president and FIFA Council Member Kwesi Nyantakyi accepting a cash gift of $65,000 from undercover journalists. Image: Kwesi Nyantakyi (pictured in 2014) resigned as Ghana FA president. Nyantakyi resigned from his role following the release of the documentary. Both of the nations' senior men's sides are set to resume their African Cup of Nations qualification campaigns on September 8.<doc-sep>FIFA on Tuesday threatened to suspend the Nigeria and Ghana football federations over government interference. Nigeria will face the wrath of world football’s governing body unless “the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) offices are not handed back to the legitimate NFF executive committee under President Amaju Melvin Pinnick”, a FIFA statement warned. Nigeria put itself on a collision course with FIFA in July when the government’s sports ministry directed the NFF to comply with a court order to overturn Pinnick’s election and recognise Chris Giwa as its head. The long-running dispute over who is in charge of the NFF dates back to 2014. Giwa first claimed to have won election to the top job. However, FIFA did not endorse the vote and threatened suspension unless it was re-run. Pinnick won the re-run, although the vote was also deemed to have been flawed. Giwa then launched court action over the result. FIFA said the ban would only be lifted once Pinnick has confirmed the NFF is back under his effective control. Ghana’s problems stem from a corruption scandal engulfing suspended GFA federation boss Kwesi Nyantaki. FIFA are on the warpath after the country’s Attorney General ordered the GFA to be dissolved. “If the petition to start the liquidation process of the GFA is not withdrawn” by August 27 the association “will be suspended with immediate effect”, FIFA said. FIFA statutes dictate that member states should “manage their affairs independently with no influence from third parties”.<doc-sep>
Last updated on .From the section African Fifa's statutes do not allow undue influence on the running of football Fifa has issued ultimatums to Nigeria and Ghana that they both face bans from global football for "undue influence" in the affairs of their governing bodies. Nigeria's ban could begin on 20 August if the Nigeria Football Federation "offices are not handed back to the legitimate NFF executive committee under president Amaju Pinnick." The issues in Nigeria come after a recent court case recognised Chris Giwa, who is currently serving five-year ban by Fifa, as the NFF president. Giwa has been protesting the result of elections held in September 2014 that saw Pinnick installed as NFF president. The NFF are due to hold polls on 20 September as Pinnick's four-year term is coming to an end. The statement from Fifa added that any ban would not affect Nigeria's ongoing participation at the Women's Under-20 World Cup in France. The Super Falconets are due to play Spain in the quarter-finals on Thursday. A Ghana high court petition, brought by the attorney general to have the football association liquidated, must be withdrawn by the 27 August or a ban will be imposed. The case came in the wake of widespread corruption allegations. Football's world governing body says this "constitutes an undue influence in the affairs of the GFA in contravention of Fifa statutes." The letter signed by Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura added that "if the petition to start the liquidation process of the GFA is not withdrawn by Monday 27 August 2018 at 1100GMT the GFA will be suspended with immediate effect." The petition came in the wake of a film by controversial Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremayaw Anas that showed African match officials and former GFA president Kwesi Nyantakyi accepting cash gifts. A global ban would put Ghana's 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Kenya on 8 September in doubt, Nigeria are due to travel to face Seychelles the same weekend. Since the release of the film the Confederation of African Football has issued bans to many of the match officials shown on camera. Nyantakyi resigned from his posts as GFA president and from the posts he held with Fifa and the Confederation of African Football (Caf). He denies any wrongdoing. Fifa, suspended Nyantakyi for 90 days on 8 June but he has now left his role on the Fifa Council. Caf has also announced that it will hold a vote at an Extraordinary Congress on "30 September 2018 in Egypt to fill the Caf 1st Vice-President function and the vacancy on the Fifa Council."