The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has failed to pay 22,000 Swiss Francs ($22,429) to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to set a date for its panel to hear Wilfred Osei Kwaku’s GFA Presidential disqualification appeal, Joy Sports can reveal.
CAS gave Osei Kwaku (pictured below) and the GFA a deadline of February 10, 2020, to pay the amount for a three-judge panel to hear the appeal.
Osei Kwaku, affectionately called ‘Palmer’ paid his, but the GFA failed to pay within the stipulated time.
CAS wrote to Palmer on February 13, 2020, notifying him of the GFA’s failure to make the payment, and have thus asked him to foot the bill on or before February 27, 2020.
It is unclear why the GFA failed to make the payment as the association filed their defence in November 2019, naming Francis Essah, IT Manager of the FA and Frank Davis of Davis Law as witnesses.
The GFA named Hendrik Willem Kesler as their judge on the three-man panel for the legal showdown whilst Palmer named highly-rated Australian John Didulica – who is a former member of the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber – as the arbitrator for his team.
However, the GFA’s failure to make payment could lead to a technical withdrawal of the case should the Tema Youth owner fail to pay the remainder of the advance cost on or before the scheduled date.
Joy Sports can reveal that should Palmer fail to make the payment, CAS would refund the 22,000 Swiss Francs he paid last week.
We understand Osei Kwaku would make the payment as he believes that reneging on the matter is not an option.
Source: Joy Sports
