By John Kwesi Arthur
Football Writer, kick442.com-Ghana
Ghana Football Association has rubbished reports that the Ghana premier league has been cancelled.
Earlier today, a popular website in the country, “ghanasoccernet” published on their website that Ghana premier league has been cancelled by a unanimous decision by the EXCO; (Breaking news: Ghana FA EXCO unanimously vote to cancel season)
Reacting to this, the FA has released a statement rubbishing the publication.
Below is the full statement;
STATEMENT: GFA takes strong exception to FAKE NEWS by Ghanasoccernet.com on 2019/20 football season
Our attention has been drawn to a publication on ghanasoccernet.com with the headline ‘Ghana FA ExCo unanimously vote to cancel season’. The story informed all stakeholders of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the public that the Executive Council took a decision to cancel the 2019/20 football season at their meeting on Tuesday, June 16, 2020.
The GFA wishes to put on record that the said publication on ghanasoccernet.com is false, malicious, and intended to cause injury to the reputation of the GFA. The publication is also calculated to deliberately cause confusion and disdain among the members of the Association, sponsors, players, club owners, and other stakeholders.
The GFA wishes to state categorically that no such decision was taken by the Executive Council of the GFA and as such the publication should be disregarded and treated with contempt by our stakeholders and the public.
We are extremely concerned that though the Association has a good relationship with the media and ghanasoccernet.com, the website failed to crosscheck the story with the Communications Department of the Association, thereby failing to comply with the ethics of journalism. Indeed, there is no prize for fake news in the Code of Ethics of the noble profession.
The Association has in countless media publications stated and repeated Tuesday, June 30, 2020, as deadline for its final decision on the season after considering all factors including but not limited to the outcome of the various consultations, discussions, and engagements with all our stakeholders, such as clubs, sponsors, and government.
The GFA has also taken notice of other fake and negative publications on the same website (ghanasoccernet.com), such as the one with the headline, Ghana FA to lose MTN FA Cup sponsorship if the season is cancelled.
Though we hasten to conclude that there is a deliberate agenda to destroy the efforts of the Association to #BringBackTheLove, the website leaves us with only a little doubt that it wishes to harm the corporate image of the GFA, its members and our proud partners.
The GFA would continue to open its doors to all media networks, however, the Association would not hesitate to seek legal redress to defend its corporate image when the Association is deliberately and/or recklessly maligned or injured through unverified reportage.
The GFA expects a retraction of the fake story immediately and an apology to the Association and all our stakeholders forthwith.
Once again, we wish to assure the public and all stakeholders that the Executive Council of the Association will take a decision on June 30, 2020, after considering all factors on the subject matter, a decision that would be in the best interest of Ghana Football.
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