Posted On Monday, 22nd April 2013
Mohammed Gargo
The Ghana FA has asked Mohammed Gargo to name the person who approached him claiming they can pay bribes for him to be included in the Black Stars 2006 World Cup squad.
The GFA wants to take action against such individuals who tarnish the country’s image insisting that such approaches must be reported to the police and the GFA for action to be taken.
But Gargo admitted that the GFA or the then Black Stars technical team had no knowledge of the bribe demanded by the faceless individuals.
The football federation says it is interested in clamping down on the activities of con artists masquerading as officials of the GFA.
The ex-Serie A player said he along with Sam Johnson and Augustine Arhinful could have played for the Black Stars at the tournament in Germany but for their refusal to pay monies to some persons.
The GFA says Gargo must name the person who approached him so that the issue can be investigated for action to be taken promptly insisting such corrupt person must be exposed.
“We are very interested in getting to the bottom of this matter. Gargo can help us in investigating this matter by telling us the name of the person for him to be exposed if found guilty,” Ghana FA spokesman Ibrahim Sannie Daara said.
“We will approach Gargo to give us the name of the person so that the people walking around tarnishing the GFA’s image can be brought to book. Gargo can really help us to expose these people.
“They are basically con artists using their selfish ways to extort money from people by using the GFA’s name. These people must be exposed.”
The GFA says such individuals must be reported to the police and GFA when they make such approaches saying that those approached must also be bold to come out and name them.
“Players are called into the national team on merit so if anyone has approached a player to pay money for as national team call-up, please go for your refund and report the matter to the police,” Daara said.
“Players must also be bold to tell us the names so that we can weed them out of the system as they do not represent the GFA in any way.
“They are con artists acting on their own and they must be made to face justice otherwise they will continue to tarnish not only the image of the GFA but the entire country.”
The former Udinese player made the claim on Saturday, SEVEN YEARS after the tournament was played in Germany.
Gargo as well as Arhinful and Johnson were not on the periphery of the Black Stars squad at the time as the likes of Stephen Appiah, Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari were the country’s leading players.
According to Gargo, the Black Stars could have gone past the second round of the 2006 World Cup if he and his two other colleagues were included in the squad.
Sammy Kuffuor was the only player of Gargo’s generation to have played at the 2006 World Cup.
But Gargo’s refusal to name and shame the alleged persons involved makes his claim difficult to prove as several players in the past have accused officials of taking bribes to call undeserving players.
Yet when they are pressed to bring evidence of their claims they are not able to substantiate it.
Last month Ishmael Yartey sent some elders to apologise to coach Sellas Tetteh for claiming the trainer took bribes to drop him from Ghana U20 team for the 2009 World Cup in Egypt.