Football on the altar of morality

 Sudan coach, Kwesi Appiah’s status after Tuesday’s second leg AFCON 2025 qualifier against the Black Stars of Ghana, his native country, would be of paramount interest to football fans across the country as well as officialdom.

His association with the Sudanese football where he serves as the national team coach and Ghana as an Executive Council member has raised conflict of interest issues in recent times.

That situation appears to have overshadowed the preparation and buildup for the match Ghana needs a win badly to stay in contention for a slot for next year’s continental football fiesta in Morocco.

It is not as if these concerns are new. It is not! In fact, they were expressed from the moment the news about Sudan’s interest in him broke out.

From the time negotiation started till when it fully materialised and signatures appended to a deal that allows Appiah to ‘eat with both hands’, nothing was done about it.

Even if something was done, it must have surely been under some closed-door environment.

Perhaps, the silence of the FA may have been grounded in the belief that Ghana would avoid Sudan in the qualifiers or had expected football’s integrity rules to deal with the matter.

Others have argued and taken on Appiah on grounds of morality.

The Sudan avoidance school of thought may be fair because Appiah had work peacefully and succeeded in building a winsome Sudan team that lead Ghana’s group in the qualifiers.

Randy Abbey’s concern was therefore legitimate, although it raised a few eyebrows with the timing.

Going forward, Appiah graciously announced a decision to step down from his position as a member of the Executive Council of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), following a directive from CAF, but TEMPORARILY.

“This situation is contrary to the CAF Statutes and the FIFA Code of Ethics.

“For that reason and to preserve the integrity of the AFCON qualifiers, I urge you to take immediate action to resolve this conflict of interest, including at the minimum, temporarily stepping down from one of the two roles until the conclusion of the competition,” a CAF statement read.

That appears to have solved a part of the puzzle as both teams prepare for the second leg of the double-header on Tuesday.

However, the wording of the CAF letter leaves the door open for a return to the subject because Appiah could return to take back his position on the FA Executive Council.

It may still not sound right for one person to perform dual roles which can conflict in many other ways and not necessarily in clashes involving the two parties.

It appears the myriad rules established to check the administration of the game have no consideration for this particular situation, leaving it on the person in the centre of the storm to be judged on grounds of morality.

Well, since the qualifiers will conclude just next month, one needs to be patient and wait to see the next line of action to be taken by the Ghana FA and Appiah.

But if you ask me, I will suggest a much clearer way in dealing with such situations. The rules must even not let it happen for people to be subjected to moral torture, a test majority of the people will fail.

By Andrew Nortey