Soccer News of Friday, 9 March 2018

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Egos and politics to blame for league delay - New Hearts CEO

Mark David Noonan is expected to positively turn around the fortunes of Hearts of Oak play videoMark David Noonan is expected to positively turn around the fortunes of Hearts of Oak

The new Chief Executive Officer of Accra Hearts of Oak, Mark Noonan says he is amazed that the new Ghana Premier League has been suspended indefinitely over an issue which seems very simple to solve.

The new CEO who has been tasked by the Hearts of Oak Board to make the Phobians great again, is eager to hit the ground running, but with the Ghana Premier League yet to start, his hands are tied.

Mark Noonan, who has vast experience working in America‘s Major League Soccer says emotions and egos must make way for cool heads in order to solve the problem between the Ghana Football Association and Accra Great Olympics.

"I'm very disappointed that that's the case. It is a situation I have never seen before and the fact that it's a pretty simple issue. Was the player legal or not and why must it takes court of law to solve that"?

"May be I'm naive about Ghana soccer and there are things I need to figure out. But from the outside, it seems egos & politics are more important here than football & the supporters which should never be the case", Mark Noonan said.

Noonan has been appointed for the next three years, and among other things he is expected to make Hearts of Oak commercially viable and marketable. He is also to help Hearts of Oak develop its Pobiman project where the club plans to build a modern stadium, training pitches, recreational parks and apartments/club house where players and officials who sign for Hearts of Oak can stay.

He is also expected to help Hearts of Oak win its first Premier League trophy in almost a decade.
At his unveiling on Wednesday, Noonan said he would not have come to Ghana and Hearts of Oak if he didn’t feel he could help take the club to the next level, which is why he is eager to see the Ghana league start as soon as possible.