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ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo on Monday ordered police to arrest football federation head Kwesi Nyantakyi, a member of the powerful FIFA Council, over allegations of fraud.
Akufo-Addo's order was announced by the state-run Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.
Abu Jinapor, deputy chief of staff at the president's office, said the order for Nyantakyi to be arrested and investigated related to an undercover documentary that purports to show the football official asking businessmen for money in return for access to the president and other senior government officials.
"It was a clear case of defrauding by false pretense," Jinapor said, adding that Akufo-Addo's order came after he watched excerpts from the documentary, which has not yet been broadcast.
Nyantakyi is president of the Ghana Football Association, a vice president of the Confederation of African Football, and has been a member of the ruling FIFA Council since 2016. He was the FIFA official chosen to oversee the football competition at the 2012 London Olympics.
Ghanaian media reported that Nyantakyi was not in Ghana at the time of the president's order but was returning home.
Nyantakyi has been accused of improper behavior before when a British media investigation just before the 2014 World Cup claimed he had been willing to allow the Ghana national team to play in games that could be fixed by others. He denied the allegation.
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