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ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — FIFA Council member and Ghana Football Association head Kwesi Nyantakyi was arrested upon his return to his home country on allegations of corruption following a complaint made against him by the Ghanaian president.
Police spokesman David Eklu confirmed to The Associated Press that Nyantakyi, also the senior vice president of the Confederation of African Football, was taken into custody and interrogated. He was arrested Wednesday, picked up by plain-clothes police officers at a VIP section at the airport in Accra and taken straight to police headquarters, according to reports in the Ghanaian media.
Nyantakyi was granted bail and ordered to return for questioning on Thursday.
Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo asked police to investigate Nyantakyi after he was caught in an undercover documentary promising access to the president and other senior government officials in return for money.
The documentary has not been aired but Akufo-Addo had viewed parts of it before asking police to investigate, said Abu Jinapor, deputy chief of staff at the president's office.
Nyantakyi was out of the country at the time President Akufo-Addo made the complaint on Monday.
Police said in a statement that Nyantakyi was being investigated for "alleged offenses including corruption" and using the president's name "fraudulently."
Nyantakyi has been a member of the powerful FIFA Council since 2016 and is an influential figure in African football.
But he has also been accused of improper behavior before and was previously the target of an undercover sting in 2014 by British media, which said he had agreed to let Ghana's national team play in friendly games that could be fixed by others.
He denied the accusation and was cleared by a Ghana Football Association ethics committee.
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