Former Sporting Director of Ashanti Gold SC, Nana Kwasi Darling, has accused the Ghana Football Association (GFA) of selective justice following the demotion of the Obuasi-based club to Division Two after being found guilty of match manipulation.

The Disciplinary Committee of the GFA found the club guilty of match manipulation in their 2020/21 Ghana Premier League Matchday 34 game against Inter Allies FC.

The GFA, in a statement on Monday, May 16, 2022, confirmed Ashanti Gold SC will be demoted to Ghana’s lower-tier effective the 2022/23 league season,

Nana Kwasi Darlyn, who was Sporting Director of AshGold when the incident happened, is among the officials and players of the miners who the Disciplinary Committee sanctioned.

He has been handed a four-year ban from all football-related activities by the GFA for failing to appear before the Committee in accordance with Article 34.5(d)(i) of the Ghana Premier League Regulations.

But reacting to the verdict in an interview with Luv FM, the former Bechem United CEO accused the GFA of bias.

Nana Kwasi Darlyn claims AshGold was targeted because none of the club officials voted for Kurt Okraku during the 2019 GFA General Election.

“I did not see anything until the boy turned to score himself,” he told Luv FM.

“I was telling everybody in the stadium; people could see my reaction that he [Hashmin Musah] must be arrested.

“You know, the whole show is not even about Inter Allies; the target is AshGold because AshGold was and never voted for Kurt Okraku.

“Nobody from AshGold voted for Kurt Okraku and that I joined their number one opposition leader, so everything is now centred around AshGold; what about Inter Allies? The one that scored the two goals?” he quizzed.

Nana Kwasi Darling also alleged his name is on the wrong side of the FA because of his affiliation with former GFA vice president, George Afriyie who was Kurt’s rival during the GFA election in 2019.

“Some of us, our names will appear first because of our affiliation with George Afriyie, but they will not last forever in the FA.

“They will not even cross two terms; they will just go for one term because of their deeds; it will hunt them,” he concluded.

During the 2020/21 football season, an alleged match-fixing scandal shook Ghana football during a Matchday 34 match between Ashanti Gold SC and Inter Allies at the Obuasi Len Clay Stadium.

Players of both teams were suspicious on the field since it appeared there was a predetermined scoreline, and this was evident when Inter Allies, who had already been relegated, failed to put up much of a fight, as the miners scored five unanswered goals to underline the scoreline that was already in the public domain.

However, Hashmin Musah, an Inter Allies FC defender, scored two deliberate own goals near the end of the game to bring AshGold’s total to 7-0.

Hashmin Musah, in a radio interview, admitted that he intentionally scored the two own goals to ‘spoil’ the 5-0 scoreline because of his religious beliefs.

The FA instituted an investigation into the match following the incident in 2021.