George Afriyie, a 2019 Ghana Football Association (GFA) presidential candidate, has revealed that he was shocked by his defeat to Kurt Okraku in that year’s election.
Afriyie ran alongside Amanda Clinton, George Ankoma Mensah, Nana Yaw Amponsah, Kurt Edwin Simeon Okraku, and Frederick Pappoe for the respectable football position.
Kurt Okraku ultimately won the election after the third round of voting. In the first round, Okraku secured 44 votes, narrowly beating Afriyie, who received 40 votes. Nana Yaw Amponsah and Fred Pappoe garnered 27 and 6 votes, respectively.
In the second round, Kurt Okraku led with 59 votes, but fell just short of the required 50% + 1 votes, needing two more votes. Afriyie had 43 votes, and Amponsah received 16.
Afriyie then withdrew from the race, allowing Okraku to proceed unchallenged in the third round, where he won with 93 votes.
Reflecting on his defeat, George Afriyie admitted that the results left him shocked. “Yes, I was shocked, especially after all the assurances I had received,” he told Michael Kofi Oduro on Metro Sports.
“But looking back, I can say that I was too overconfident. I have told my team that I don’t want to blame anyone for the loss. I believe I was solely responsible for it.”
George Afriyie also revealed a key turning point that contributed to his defeat. He shared that a phone call on the night of the election led to a missed opportunity. He was urged to travel to Kumasi by an unnamed personality, and by the time he returned, many of the delegates who had initially planned to support him had visited Kwesi Nyantakyi, who persuaded them to back Okraku instead.
Afriyie further suggested that had he sought Nyantakyi’s blessing or visited him ahead of the election, he might have won.
Despite losing the 2019 election, Afriyie contested the GFA presidency again in 2023, only to be disqualified due to an administrative error. He appealed the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but his challenge was unsuccessful.
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