Ghana Football Association (GFA) presidential aspirant George Afriyie has filed a notice of appeal and appeal against his disqualification from the upcoming presidential election.

The former vice-president of the GFA described his disqualification as erroneous and breach of natural justice and fair hearing and has asked the appeals committee to reverse the decision of the Elections Committee, making him eligible to contest the presidency later this year.

Mr Afriyie was disqualified from this year’s presidential elections after failing to meet the requirements set out by the elections committee.

Portions of the decision of the committee which was communicated to the aspirant stated that, Victory Warriors FC was not duly signed by the appropriate signatory of the club, hence Jeffrey Asare who signed on the behalf of the club peddled falsehood when he claimed he was the Director of the Club, contrary to details at the Registra of Companies and the GFA, rendering the endorsement invalid.

It meant that Afriyie was left with four endorsements, one less than the required number, five.

The Joseph Bernard Ashalley, Esq. led committee gave him three days to file an appeal if he wishes to.

A notice of appeal and appeal were filed on Friday, September 8, 2023, after a request was submitted for the unedited recoding of vetting proceedings on September 7, 2023.

JoySports understands that the Elections Committee stated that their “work, vetting discussions, and processes leading to decision-making are not shared with parties or the public.”

The Committee, however, stated that the vetting proceedings will be made available to appellate body when there’s a dispute of fact and not law.

However, Mr Afriyie, who is “aggrieved,” with the decision to disqualify him, proceeded to file an appeal and would file further particulars by Monday, September 11, 2023, per JoySports intel.

It is unclear what the particulars are, but we understand Mr Afriyie feels the Committee misdirected itself on the law of requirements to contest for the GFA Presidency and also misapplied article 8(3) of the GFA Regulations on Elections and article 13(2)(j) of the GFA Statutes 2019, thus, describing the disqualification as erroneous.

Mr Afriyie accused the committee of breach of Natural Justice and Fair Hearing when it failed to apply article 8(3) when it neglected, failed, and refused to apply the regulation.

Aside from this, the Elections Committee, which is supposed to be comprised of five members per article 54 of the GFA Statutes 2019, were six during his vetting, and this, he says, is contrary to the mandated composition of the panel.

Hence, he has asked the appeal committee to set aside and reverse the decision of the election committee and admit his application to contest the GFA Presidency as successful.

More to follow…