George Afriyie is poised to become the second presidential aspirant, following Wilfred Osei Kwaku, to file a petition challenging the GFA’s Appeals Committee at CAS after being disqualified by the Elections Committee.
George Afriyie’s legal advisor, Esquire Richard Saaka, exudes confidence in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturning the Appeals Committee’s verdict that upheld his client’s disqualification.
In a previous report by mynewsgh.com, it was revealed that George Afriyie, the former GFA vice president, has chosen to contest the Appeals Committee’s decision to uphold his disqualification at CAS.
This decision was prompted by the Appeals Committee’s communication of its dismissal of his application.
In an interview with Citi FM, Saaka said, ”We are going to go to CAS… and that’s the instructions I have. We are exploring the situation where the court in Ghana will explore the breaches of the rules on natural justice as far as George Afriyie’s candidature to stand for the office of the GFA president is concerned.”
Additionally, Saaka disclosed that pursuing an injunction application in the High Court to halt the GFA’s elections remained a viable alternative.
”That is the first thing we need to note: that it is not only CAS that can deal with this matter. The second thing we need to note is that, in the case we put before the Appeals Committee, we put a case including the breaches of natural justice.”
”The decisions have been that, when it comes to allegations (sic) of breaches of rules on natural justice, these contractual rules on agreement between parties, such as the statutes of the GFA, would not override the decisions or the authorities of the court.”
Afriyie made this decision following the Appeals Committee’s rejection of his application, citing his failure to obtain the necessary signatures to endorse his candidature as the reason for dismissal.
In its decision, the Appeals Committee said the sixth person is an ”in-house lawyer of the Ghana Football Association. The lawyer was not part of the vetting team and did not ask George Kwasi Afriyie any questions. The lawyer provided administrative assistance to the committee.”
The Appeals Committee further asserted that, in response to Afriyie’s claim that the Committee breached the rule of ”Natural Justice and Fair Hearing” of his candidature when it ”failed, neglected, and refused to apply article 8(3) of the FA regulations on elections,” the Appeals Committee said ”it is not a case that a Police Clearance Certificate or passport picture had not been included, which would have warranted the application of article 8(3) of the Elections Regulations.”
George Afriyie will become the second presidential aspirant after Wilfred Osei Kwaku to petition to challenge the GFA’s Appeals Committee at CAS following disqualification by the Elections Committee. In Kwaku Osei’s case in 2019, CAS upheld the decision of the Committee.