THE Board Chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Mr Herbert Mensah, has raised alarm about certain acts and omission by the Professional League Board (PLB), the design of which he suspects could work to the advantage of perennial rivals, Accra Hearts of Oak.

Speaking in an exclusive interview in Kumasi Mr Mensah expressed disappointment at the behaviour of the PLB “who refused to stick to their original suggestion of reversing the league”.

Justifying his bitterness against the PLB, the Kotoko boss assessed the league's first round as having favoured Accra Hearts of Oak “because teams played Goldfields and Kotoko before played Hearts by which time such teams had really overtaxed themselves and surrender to Hearts”.

He rejected that arrangement as an unfair one that clearly serves as an advantage the Hearts, and that a reverse would have been the natural order.

To maintain the integrity of the league and make it more competitive, Mr Mensah said the FA must first take note that such arrangement is very unfair demoralises the smaller teams and must be changed.

On the performance of other clubs in the league, Mr Mensah praised Liberty Professionals for a good first round showing but alleged that there are one or two matches that Liberty appeared to have given up even before the match got underway.

“When they choose to play, I think they are one of the best sides,” he noted.

Reacting to Kotoko's charges, the Vice-Chairman of the PLB Mr William Abra-Appiah, said the notion that the fixtures were intended to favour Hearts was formed on wrong conjectre.

He said the preparation of the league fixtures is a technical under taking and not motivated by any intention to favour any club.

Mr Abra-Appiah said if it so happened that Hearts, Kotoko and Golfields played other teams sequentially, then that could only be explained as a mere consequence of something that was technically done.

On why the league fixtures were not reversed as recommended by the PBL, it is because the Executive Council of the GFA did not approve of it.

He said members of the board were all shocked to hear that the proposal was not even mentioned at the Executive Council, meeting, adding that the board has no representation on the council.

The vice chairman said by their regulations, the GFA should have presented the PLB's proposal to the Executive Council for discussion and possible approval.

If the FA did not do so, Mr Abra-Appiah argued, the PLB cannot be blamed for that.