Kumasi Asante Kotoko yesterday accused city rivals, Kumasi King Faisal and archrivals, Accra Hearts of Oak of conniving to sabotage their 20th week league match against Power FC at the Cape Coast Siwdu Park today.

A statement signed by National Circles Chairman, Osei Boateng and copied to major media houses with the exception of the Soccer Express accused Faisal President, Herbert Mensah of having held a series of meetings with Hearts of Oak with the intention of doing everything to sabotage Kotoko’s victory in today’s game by sending in hooligans dressed like Kotoko supporters to create confusion at Cape Coast and thus bring the game into disrepute.

According to the release the intention of the two clubs is to ensure that the so-called Kotoko fans misbehave so much that the Porcupine Warriors will be accused of causing confusion which will eventually lead to the deduction of points from the club’s accumulated points build up.

The statement advised fans of the club to comport themselves during today’s match and do well to fish out any suspicious characters who may resort to causing confusion.

The statement has meanwhile drawn sharp ripostes from fans of Kotoko who believe it is a diversionary tactic aimed at drawing attention from real problems confronting the team since its first leg African Cup Winners quarterfinal against APR of Rwanda at the Kumasi Sports Stadium.

Meanwhile officials of Hearts of Oak say they have little to say about the accusation referring to it as a red herring. Administrative Manager, Ashford Tettey Oku and Public Relations Consultant, Randy Abbey said the statement does not require an official response from Hearts and they are ignoring it with the utter contempt it deserves.

The Hearts officials said they had observed a consistent publication of vitriol aimed at their club from the Kotoko camp and believe they should not merit a response since there is not substance in the allegations.

King Faisal Media Manager, Mohammed Haruna laughed the matter off as an absolute joke when Soccer Express spoke to him yesterday.

Haruna said the pre-occupation of the new structure at King Faisal was to create a side that can be comparable to any football club in the world and there is too much work to do in ensuring that that dream is fulfilled than to ‘waste time on trivia’.