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Kwesi Nyantakyi's impeccable impact on Ghana football

Nyantakyi made more history after, under his tenure, the Black Stars made it to the round of 16 stage of the World Cup.

Former Ghana Football Association (GFA) president

The lawyer and banker headed the GFA for 13 good years, but saw all his good works undone after being captured in an exposé by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

In the said documentary, Nyantakyi was captured allegedly collecting $65,000 from undercover reporters posed as investors, in a scandal that led to his interrogation by the CID.

He has since been provisionally banned for 90 days by FIFA, whiles also resigning from his post as GFA president, CAF first vice president, WAFU Zone B president and FIFA Council Member.

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But before his downfall, Nyantakyi achieved a lot in the early stages of his tenure as GFA president which cannot be forgotten.

The Wa All Stars owner became the first FA president to lead Ghana to the World Cup, following the Black Stars’ maiden qualification to the tournament in 2006.

By then, he was serving as an interim FA boss, but still managed to put in place measures to ensure the country made it to Germany.

When he was elected as the substantive GFA president, Nyantakyi made more history after, under his tenure, the Black Stars made it to the round of 16 stage of the World Cup.

This was followed by another milestone achievement after Ghana’s U20 side, the Black Satellites, won the World Cup hosted by Egypt in 2009.

This was, and still remains, the first and only time that an African side ever lifted that U20 World Cup.

Nyantakyi was again at the helm when Ghana qualified for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, while also overseeing the country’s triumph at the 2011 All Africa Games held in Maputo, Mozambique.

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Surely, the lawyer should have exited much early, and his ending became synonymous with failure following a series of poor decisions and underachievement by the various national teams.

But he still remains one of Ghana’s most successful FA presidents.

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