The President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kurt E.S Okraku has met with members of the newly-formed Assessment and Classification Panel to discuss among others, the reason for putting the team together and most importantly, the expectations of the football association.

The three-man panel, chaired by Executive Council member, Frederick Acheampong, has retired FIFA referees, Justice Yeboah and Emmanuella Aglago as members.

GFA president’s message
“Colleagues, we need to bear in mind that the public is watching and they expect a lot from us. In times past, the FA was not directly involved in the grading and classification of referees. But today, the Executive Council has taken a decision to form an independent body to take care of this important sector of our industry.

“We believe that this team has a big role to play to ensure that our referees are trained and graded appropriately for our collective good,” Mr Okraku told the members.

Chairman’s response
The chairman of the committee assured that his team would work hard to restore public confidence in Ghanaian referees.

“First of all, thank you for having confidence in us. The fact that you decided to fall on us for this important task means you trust us and you believe in us that we will deliver.

“I want to congratulate my colleagues, Mr Justice Yeboah and Emmanuella for their recognition by the Football Association in the new direction the FA wants to go,” he stated.

“If you move around, the signal you get is that the confidence in Ghanaian referees has gone down. It is not because we are not good but it is a result of the stigma on our referees since 2018. We need to make sure that the grading and classification are done appropriately without bias.”

“We have the opportunity to set a new record now. The fact that the Executive Council fell on us means they believe that we are of high moral standing and good integrity, so we need to make sure that we do the right thing to attain the needed result,” he added.

Role of the Panel
The panel is responsible for evaluating and assessing the performance of referees by giving advice and constructive comments to help the development of the referees, while using a marking system.

It is also to analyse the performance of referees in their respective categories under the auspices of the GFA, as well as ensure the grading and classification of referees.

Present at the meeting were the GFA General Secretary, Prosper Harrison Addo and the newly-appointed Referees Manager Alex Kotey.