Eddie Mungai

Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas conducted investigative reporting which revealed referees and even the president of the former Ghana Football Association (GFA) accepting monetary gifts before games in his BBC Africa Eye documentary “Betraying the Game”. This documentary showed secret footage referees within the Ghanaian Premier League and referees in the CAF Champions League accepting monetary gifts averaging $2000 per referee. Anas and his team did a great job of unveiling this deplorable activity behind the scenes of African football.

But I noticed the football association/ referees that were scrutinized were all sub-Saharan. The GFA was the association looked into closely. And the referees that were targeted were from Ghana, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and Gambia. Is it sheer coincidence that not a single referee in the documentary was of North African descent? Why wasn’t the Moroccan, Tunisian, or Egyptian league checked? Now the Kenyan referee that was caught accepting $600 (Aden Marwa) did mention that other referees in Morocco will report any hint of corruption to other officials. Now I don’t know if he meant referees who were Moroccan or referees that worked in Morocco, regardless of whether they were North African or not. But he seems to imply that football in Morocco is taken seriously and corruption is quelled hastily.

Once again, Anas did a phenomenal job uncovering the shocking activities that occur behind the curtain in African football. But it would be good to see if North African leagues and referees are susceptible to exhibiting such behavior. Sub-Saharan African football shouldn’t be the sole entity that bears the corruption label in African football. We must look at North African football as well.