Glo have delivered the ultimate sucker punch to Abraham Boakye’s bizarre quest of claiming the agent’s commission in a sponsorship deal, insisting Afrisat boss Rene Williams played the key role in brokering the Ghana agreement. Boakye has taken the Ghana FA to an Accra High Court saying he brokered the deal for Glo to sponsor the local league and the Black Stars and must be paid a commission.
His argument was thoroughly rubbished by the Nigerian telecommunication giants in an Accra High Court as Glo insisted that Boakye played no role in brokering the deal.
But in a final throw of the dice in floundering arguments before the court, media close to Boakye reported that Afrisat, the marketing firm engaged by the Ghana FA to seal the deal, is unknown to Glo. This flies in the face of the revelation by Glo’s marketing manager Suleman Kolawole Bello when he was giving evidence in court. Bello explained that Williams, who was the Afrisat representative in the deal, made presentations to Glo and also revived the deal when it went cold. “He (Williams) was introduced to us as the consultant to the GFA and he was like a middleman, coming to us and going back,” Bello told the court. “He (Williams) made some presentations to us in the course of the meetings. I think he was an expert who was facilitating some of the activities. “There are times that the talks actually broke down. There was a day on the radio that the entire country said we were insulting them by the kind offer that we made and that the money was too small.
“So the GFA stopped talking to us on the negotiations. It was he (Williams) who came back and took us to them and go and appeal and all that.” The leader of the GHANSU supporter group which is sponsored by Glo went to court claiming he brought officials of the company to Ghana to broker the deal worth US$15m.
Boakye, a branding ambassador for Glo, must wear the company’s apparel at football matches to promote the brand and not to broker deals, the Nigerian firm told the court.
Despite this damaging revelation, he went to court saying he wants 15% commission of the $15m paid to him as agency fee.
Boakye claims he was cheated by the GFA as he brought the Nigerian officials to meet the GFA therefore he brokered the deal but Boakye or his company ABN Marketing have no letter appointing him/them as the marketing agency for Glo or the GFA.
Afrisat has a letter from the GFA appointing them as their marketing agent in the Glo deal.
The revelation is likely to weigh against Boakye who has been fighting this case since last year. One Man supporter, who is chairman of the Ghana National Supporters Union (GHANSU) and also a Glo Ambassador, is being represented by BCMS Consulting II, a legal firm located at Bonsu Street, Kokomlemle in Accra.