Confederation of African Football has instructed Sudan coach Kwesi Appiah to step down as an executive council member of Ghana Football Association ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers between Ghana and Sudan on October 11 at the Accra Sports Stadium and return leg on October 14 in Libya.
Appiah was elected into office on the ticket of his former club Asante Kotoko on October 5, 2023 after amassing ten votes to join Dr. Ransford Abbey (12), Frederick Acheampong (11), Nana Sarfo Oduro (10) and Kingsley Osei Bonsu as Premier League representatives on the Executive Council.
However, Appiah got an appointment as head coach of Sudan few months later which has since raised concerns about his commitments. Although, he has been adamant to public opposition to see him stepping down from the executive committee role of Ghana FA, Caf has ordered him to resign by the close of Tuesday, October 8, 2024.
“Conflict of Interest regarding your dual roles as Ghana Football Association Executive Council Member and Sudan football team Head Coach. It has come to our attention that you are currently holding two significant positions:
- Member of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Executive Council Head coach of Sudan’s national football team,” a CAF statement read.
“As you already know, Ghana and Sudan are in the same pool for the upcoming AFCON qualifiers (the “Competition”). The two teams are set to face each other on 11th and 14th October 2024, and your dual roles create an apparent conflict of interest.
“This situation is contrary to the CAF Statutes and the FIFA Code of Ethics. For that reason and to preserve the integrity of the AFCON qualifiers, I urge you to take immediate action to resolve this conflict of interest, including, at a minimum, temporarily stepping down from one of the two roles until the conclusion of the Competition.
“I kindly request you to provide CAF with written confirmation and proof that you have taken the necessary steps to remedy the situation on or before Tuesday 8 October 2024. Failure to do so will result in this matter being referred to the CAF Disciplinary Board,” the statement concluded.
Appiah’s Sudan are second in the group with three points, two points above Ghana who lost their opening game to Angola at home and shared the spoils 1-1 with Nigeria in Morocco last month.
