The Fifa Normalization Committee, in its current form, will be no more after March 31, Joy Sports understands.
The work of the four-member Normalization Committee put together last September to see to the reform of Ghana football has not been completed, leading to a request for an extension of their mandate.
That request will be granted, but with a caveat.
Dr. Kofi Amoah, the current chairman of the committee, will remain in a newly reconstituted body. Mrs Lucy Quist, Naa Odofoley Nortey and Samuel Osei Kuffour (who replaced Dua Adonteng a few weeks ago) will see an end to their tenure.
Joy Sports understands that the road leading to this process will begin this week, when a Fifa Task Force jets into Accra. On their agenda will be an assessment of the work of the Normalization Committee so far, football corruption in general, and the way forward.
It is also understood that the Task Force, who will make their displeasure at the pace of work so far known, are to ensure a clear road map to reforming Ghana football will be agreed on.
This road map will
– Confirm that a September 30 extension has been agreed to
– Have a clear scope of work and schedule
– Confirm the constitution of the new team
Who makes up the new team?
Joy Sports understands that Fifa will have a heavier involvement in the group that will reform Ghana football for the next six months. There will be at least four members: two consultants from Fifa, a rep from the government of Ghana, and Dr. Kofi Amoah himself. Another official will play the role of secretary to the group. Depending on how talks go, there may a representative from the Confederation of African Football.
How we got here
Fifa announced the Normalization Committee on September 13, 2018 with the mission to revise the Ghana Football Association statutes, conduct elections and manage the daily affairs of country’s football governing body.
It came after the government of Ghana discontinued the liquidation of the Football Association as well as Fifa’s decision to discontinue the suspension of FA. All this came in the aftermath of the Anas Aremeyaw Anas ‘Number 12’ documentary that exposed massive football corruption in the nation’s football.
But the tenure of the Normalization Committee has been fraught with difficulty, from members having bust ups at media engagement, several contradictions along its communication chain, and difficulty in establishing a rapport with Premier League clubs.
Arguably, the biggest sticking point has been the body’s failure to do it most important job – revamping the GFA statutes and organizing elections for a new football administration to take over.
The committee had also planned to introduce a football tournament to keep men’s football clubs busy, which they called the Normalization Committee Special Competition. It never happened.
However, a version for women kicked off two weeks ago, which represents the biggest actionable achievement by the NC. Another achievement the NC can point – though it was not a core part of their mandate – has been constituting six ad-hoc committees with the job of proposing ideas to run football.
