Ghana Premier League player admits scoring two deliberate own goals to foil match-fixing plot

Inter Allies defender Hashmin Musah has confessed to scoring two intentional own goals in Saturday's Ghana Premier League clash with Ashanti Gold in order to defy an attempt at match-fixing from his own team.

The club went down 7-0 in the match, with Musah coming off the bench to net twice past his own keeper in the final 12 minutes.

He claims that he did so on purpose as he believes that the score had been agreed in advance for betting purposes.

What was said?

"After the game, my technical team commended me for spoiling the bet they had staked," Musah told Kumasi FM, as reported by Citisportonline.

"I promised my coach that if he allows me to play from the bench, I will spoil the bet. And after the game, my team congratulated me.

"I heard it in our hotel that a bet had been made for a correct scoreline of 5-1 against my club Inter Allies.

"I decided to spoil that bet because I don't condone betting."

The bigger picture

Inter Allies went into the final game of the season already condemned to relegation from the Premier League, and were 5-0 down before Musah's introduction.

Musah himself was substituted out of the match just before full-time following his two own goals.

While videos of the defender's goals have gone viral on social media, prompting calls for investigations, Ashanti Gold have stressed they had no involvement in the alleged match-rigging agreement.

"We take notice of the videos circulating in relation to our game against Inter Allies and wish to unequivocally disassociate [ourselves] from any wrongdoing," Ashanti Gold said in a statement on Monday.

"Ashanti Gold played competitively in the entire duration of the game, with our players scoring five great goals through hard work and team effort in the 15th, 26th, 42nd, 49th and 77th minutes respectively.

"We have no idea as to why the opponents' player scored two own goals after we were up by five goals, with 13 minutes to end the game.

"We demonstrated throughout the game we were determined to play to the best of our abilities, and not to play to any pre-determined score line as it's been circulated," AshGold's statement continued.

"We therefore vehemently disassociate ourselves from any match-fixing and wish to urge all persons and organisations wrongfully accusing the club of match fixing to desists from that, as we won't hesitate to take legal actions against such parties.

"As a renowned sporting brand, we have always believed in fair play and would continue to act in the good interest of the game."

The Ghanaian FA have subsequently announced their intention to look into any alleged irregularities, affirming in a statement: "The Ghana Football Association (GFA) wishes to inform all its members and the public that the Association has opened investigations into the Ghana Premier League Matchday 34 game played between Ashanti Gold SC and Inter Allies FC at the Len Clay stadium at Obuasi on Saturday, July 17, 2021," the GFA has stated in a statement on its official website on Monday.

"The GFA has resolved that: (1) The Compliance & Integrity Officer and the GFA Prosecutors will lead the "sporting" investigations by the GFA, and (2) The Association will further lodge a complaint on the match with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana wing of Interpol for the criminal investigation of the game.

"The Association will immediately require statements from the two clubs and the players and the technical team members of the two clubs.

"The GFA further urges any member of the public, the media, players, technical team members to also send any evidence or information whatsoever connected to the match (a statement, video, audio etc) to assist the investigations through the GFA integrity Hotline and email."