World football governing body FIFA has granted formal approval to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to extend the term limit of its presidency from two terms to three, GHANAsoccernet.com can confirm.
This significant amendment aligns the GFA’s presidential term limit with those of FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and corrects a long-standing inconsistency in the GFA’s governance framework, where members of the Executive Council were eligible to serve three terms, but the President, who is an integral part of the same Executive Council, was limited to only two terms.
The journey toward this statutory reform began when the GFA received multiple proposals from its members advocating for various amendments to the Association’s governing statutes. In response, the Executive Council established a Statutes Review Committee, chaired by Dr. Randy Abbey, over three years ago. The formation of this committee was publicly announced and published on the GFA’s official website.
The committee initiated its work by considering proposals submitted by members and subsequently extended an open invitation for all stakeholders, including clubs from the Premier League, Division One League, Women’s Premier League and the Regional Football Associations to contribute additional suggestions for possible statutory revisions.
Following extensive consultations, the committee submitted a draft of proposed amendments to the Executive Council. The GFA then engaged its full membership in a series of stakeholder meetings to deliberate on the recommendations and gather further input.
The finalized proposals were submitted to FIFA Governance in coordination with CAF Governance, for review and guidance. FIFA has since responded, providing clear direction on which amendments may proceed and which proposals cannot be taken forward at this time.
The authority to amend the GFA Statutes lies solely with the Congress, as explicitly stated in Article 27(a) of the GFA Statutes, which provides:
“Congress shall have the following areas of authority:
(a) Adoption or amendment of the Statutes and the Standing Orders of Congress.”
Furthermore, Article 34(1) reinforces this authority, stating: “The GFA Statutes and the Standing Orders of the Congress shall only be amended by Congress.”
These provisions clarify that the Executive Council has no unilateral power to amend the statutes but is mandated to present proposed changes originating from GFA members to Congress for consideration, after including them as items on the Congress agenda.
The procedure for amending the Statutes is also explicitly outlined in the governing document:
Article 34(4): “For a vote on an amendment to the Statutes and to the Standing Orders of the Congress to be valid, a majority (more than 50%) of the delegates representing the Members eligible to vote must be present.”
Article 34(5): “A proposal for an amendment to the Statutes and to the Standing Orders of the Congress shall be adopted by a three-quarters approval of the delegates representing the Members present and eligible to vote.”
With FIFA’s greenlight, the GFA is now expected to place the proposed amendment on the agenda for its next Congress scheduled for Tuesday August 12, 2025, where the members will vote on the matter in accordance with the statutory requirements. If adopted by the required three-quarters majority, the amendment will officially become part of the GFA Statutes.
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