Former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kwesi Nyantakyi, has opened up about the lasting personal and professional toll of the 2018 Number 12 investigative exposé, describing its impact on his life as “irreparable.”
Speaking on The AM Show, Nyantakyi reflected on the aftermath of the undercover investigation by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, which uncovered widespread corruption in Ghanaian football and ultimately led to his lifetime ban from football administration by the GFA Ethics Committee.
According to Nyantakyi, although the damage from the exposé cannot be undone, he harbours no personal resentment toward the journalist.
“The damage is irreparable, but I don’t have anything against him,” he stated. “He should relax. If his conscience is battling with him, that is between him and God.”
Beyond the professional consequences, Nyantakyi revealed that the revelations deeply affected his family, recounting a painful moment involving his then nine-year-old daughter.
“My daughter was in GIS at the time, and she asked me, ‘Daddy, is it true that you are a thief?’” he narrated. “She said she heard it on the radio. Imagine being judged by your own daughter based on what she heard.”
He explained that the public nature of the allegations shattered his social standing and altered how people related to him.
“The condescending posture of some people towards you… They see you as a condemned criminal,” Nyantakyi said. “The aura of respectability around you is broken. It was very damning.”
The former football administrator added that the scandal disrupted multiple opportunities in his professional and personal life, noting that the stigma attached to the exposé lingered long after the initial revelations.
Despite the turmoil, Nyantakyi expressed appreciation for friends who stood by him during what he described as one of the most challenging periods of his life, acknowledging the psychological and social toll of public disgrace.
The Number 12 investigation, which aired in 2018, sent shockwaves through Ghanaian football, exposing officials involved in bribery and referee manipulation. The exposé triggered major reforms within the GFA and led to the banning of several football administrators.
