Former Management member of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Edmund Ackah says the club’s Executive Chairman Kwame Kyei should be blamed for the club’s financial troubles in recent times.
The Ghana Premier League giants have been embroiled in litigation issues in relation to former players and coaches.
The latest in this series of ‘judgement’ debts is a $240,000 fine imposed by FIFA on the club following the illegal registering of Ghanaian striker Emmanuel Clottey who was then on the books of Tunisian giants Esperance.
This adds up to the payment of $47,000; a combined fee of fines for the wrongful termination of the contracts of former coaches C.K. Akonnor and Kjetil Zachariassen.
Edmund Ackah who recently left the Porcupine Warriors’ management believes Kwame Kyei is solely responsible for all these due to his adamantine attitude and bad leadership.
The experienced football administrator was speaking in an interview with Kumasi based Oyerepa FM.
“If Dr Kwame Kyei had listened to management members on the Clottey issues ,Kotoko wouldn’t be paying this huge amount”
“Am not in management but I trust the rest there can do the job. They are more than capable but if only he ( Kwame Kyei) will listen.
“In August 2019, Esperance wrote to Kotoko giving us their account details to pay them $30,000 because we owe them $180,000 and they also owe us $150,000 but the chairman said he will not pay because he didn’t sign Emmanuel Clottey.
“Nobody is causing financial loss to Kotoko or Dr Kwame Kyei but the Executive Chairman him self(Dr. Kwame Kyei)
“He single-handedly contacted Zachariassen, lodged him at a hotel at East Legon before handing him over to George Amoako and Nana Kwame Dankwah.
“Even on CK Akonnor’s issue, he insulted us(management) when he sought our opinion,after agreeing with CK to pay him off at GHc 50,000. Dr Kwame Kyei said he will only pay GHc20,000 and now Kotoko have to pay over a billion, whose fault is it.
“You mention laws of the game on issues to him, then he start spewing that there’s no need for the laws
“Nobody should blame anybody for the Financial losses ,he’s the problem not anybody”, he concluded.
Kotoko have been given a deadline of May 10 to pay the fine or face sanctions which include demotion to the lower division.