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The GFA Ethics Committee has decided to prohibit the president of Unity FC Richmond Osei from participating in all football-related activities for a period of five months.
At its meeting on November 19, the Committee found Mr. Richmond Osei guilty of violating Article 20 of the GFA Code of Ethics (Offering and accepting gifts or other benefits) and Article 18 (Duty to cooperate) of the GFA Code of Ethics. (2019).
The Committee received a report from the GFA Integrity Officer who accused Mr. Osi of offering an amount of GHc1500 to Match Officials for his team’s 2019/20 Division One League match against Wa Suntaa.
After investigations, the Committee discovered that Mr. Richmond Osei met with the assistant referee for the match through referee Daniel Kwame Nsiah, who acted as an intermediary.
It was discovered that Mr. Osei had given Daniel Kwame Nsiah the sum of GHc1500 with the intention that Daniel Kwame Nsiah would convince the Referees involved in the match to arbitrate in favor of his team, Unity FC.
The Committee found that when the referred Referees were informed by Daniel Kwame Nsiah of the money and the intention behind Mr. Osei’s gesture, the Referees rejected the gesture and told Nsiah to return the money on the basis that they were not interested. In Mr. Osei’s request for his team to have a favorable refereeing in the match.
When invited to appear before the Committee, Mr. Osei had failed to do so on several occasions for health reasons. Later, in a virtual appearance before the Ethics Committee, Mr. Osei denied calling arbitrator Daniel Kwame Nsiah.
Furthermore, Mr. Osei emphatically stated that he had no relationship with Daniel Kwame Nsiah. Evidence provided by the Committee through Daniel Kwame Nsiah’s phone call records, however, revealed that he, Daniel Kwame Nsiah, and Richmond Osei had exchanged phone calls a total of 30 times between February 1 and February 29, contrary to Mr. Osei’s claims.
Following these findings, Mr. Osei once again did not make himself available when the Committee invited him to attend a final hearing in person.
On the basis of its investigations, the Committee found Mr. Richmond Osei guilty of violating Article 20, which imposes a fine of 5,000 GHC, as well as a ban on participating in any football-related activity for up to two years.
By not cooperating with the Committee and being dishonest with the Committee, the members found that Mr. Richmond Osei had violated Article 18 of the GFA Code of Ethics which imposes a fine of GHc5000 payable to the GFA within 14 days. upon receipt of this decision.
COMMITTEE DECISION
The Committee’s decision is:
- Prohibit Mr. Richmond Osei from participating in any soccer related activity for a period of five months with immediate effect in accordance with Article 7 (j) of the GFA Code of Ethics.
- Richmond Osei must pay a fine of GHc5000 in accordance with Article 20 of the GFA Code of Ethics.
- For violating article 18 of the Code of Ethics, Mr. Richmond Osei is also fined GHc5000.
- All fines will be paid to GFA within 14 days of receipt of this Decision.
If Mr. Richmond Osei is dissatisfied or aggrieved by this Decision, he has one (1) day of being notified of the reasons for the decision.
