Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Adams has rejected calls for the government to dissolve the Ghana Football Association (GFA), insisting that the state does not have the legal authority to disband the football governing body.

Adams’ comments come amid mounting pressure on the GFA following the Black Stars’ disastrous start to their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.

Ghana suffered a 2-0 defeat to Ivory Coast in Bouaké before surrendering a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 to Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The results have left the Black Stars bottom of Group C without a point and extended Ghana’s winless run in AFCON qualifying to eight matches since September 2023.

Speaking in an interview with Joy FM on October 1, Adams said the GFA is a legally registered entity and cannot simply be dissolved by the government.

“You know what the Ghana Football Association is, and you know that when a private company is registered to exist in perpetuity, you cannot go and dissolve it if it has not committed any crime against the administrative right,” the Buem MP said.

“It is an association, and I don't think government has the power.

“Government cannot dissolve the FA because it is a registered entity that pays its taxes to the appropriate authority.”

Government Still Has a Stake

Adams, however, stressed that the government is not without influence because the national teams supervised by the GFA are state assets and receive public funding.

“Government has the power to do certain things because the national teams that the GFA supervises belong to the government,” he said.

He also pointed to FIFA's framework governing the relationship between football associations and their respective governments.

“FIFA, in its statutes, has the Standard Corporate Agreement, so it creates space for the government, which spends money, to have a certain relationship with the GFA,” Adams explained.

What the GFA Statutes Say

Under the GFA's 2025 statutes, dissolution is a matter for Congress rather than the government. Article 79 provides for dissolution by a three-quarters majority of all members at a Congress specifically convened for that purpose.

The statutes also establish the independence of the association and restrict external interference in its affairs, reflecting FIFA's broader requirement that member associations operate independently.

The issue of government intervention in Ghanaian football has precedent.

In 2018, following the investigative documentary Number 12, the government took steps that led to the establishment of a Normalization Committee to oversee the administration of Ghana football. FIFA subsequently warned of sanctions over government interference, and the Normalization Committee was eventually permitted to manage the association under a FIFA-backed arrangement.

Adams Backs Public Interest Committee

Rather than dissolving the GFA, Adams says attention should be directed towards the Public Interest Committee, which he believes can play a role in addressing concerns surrounding the administration of football.

His position contrasts with calls from some members of government and Parliament for more drastic action.

Communications Minister Sam George last week called for the national team to be disbanded and the FA to be sacked, saying Ghana should be prepared to accept a possible FIFA ban.

Effia MP Isaac Boamah-Nyarko has also publicly called for the GFA to be dissolved.

The contrasting positions highlight a growing debate within government over how far the state should go in responding to the Black Stars' poor performances and wider concerns about football administration.

For now, Adams maintains that any attempt by the government to simply dissolve the GFA would not be within its legal powers, putting the focus instead on the mechanisms available under Ghana's football governance framework.