"There's no conflict of Interest" - Saannie Dara on Kwesi Apiah

Former Communications Director of the Ghana Football Association, Ibrahim Saanie Daara has dismissed the conflict of interest issue surrounding Kwasi Appiah's dual roles.

Appiah is in charge of the Sudan national team, which will face Ghana in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. The former Ghana coach is also a member of the Ghana Football Association Executive Council. Many people, notably ace football analyst Osei Owusu Bempah, are concerned about his job working for two different associations in the same competition.

However, Sannie, a CAF Media Officer, maintains that Appiah may withdraw himself from the Ghana FA seat till the qualifiers are completed. 

"I don't see the issue that people have been raising. There's always a case where people can recuse themselves from such discussion and it should be a straight forward case," he said in an interview with JoySports.

Ibrahim Saanie Daara (Getty Images)

"The learning experiences he will have in Sudan, he will bring it back as a Ghanaian to impact on Ghana football. If there are any issues of conflict of interest, he can recuse himself from those meetings."

"Kwasi Appiah being there in charge of Sudan and also being in the Exco will add a lot of good to Ghana football", he added.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Football Association has informed JoySports that it intends to engage FIFA on the situation and cooperate "with what they say".

Ghana is scheduled to begin the qualifications in September 2024 against Angola, then face Niger and Sudan.