Dr. Sarpong vs Kotoko: the contrasting views

Dr. K. K. Sarpong has dragged Kotoko to court.

Opinions are sharply divided on the case. Some think an out of court settlement is necessary. Others believe the case must be pursued in court to its logical conclusion. In the meantime, questions are being asked as to whether it was right for the former Executive Chairman, Dr. K. K. Sarpong to go court. Can the implication be that Dr. K. K. Sarpong – an Ashanti indigene has indirectly dragged the Great King, the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to court?  

Others have also asked if at all Kotoko is beyond legal suit. Why the fuss about this court action? It’s a thorny issue. Anyone discussing it has to be extremely careful. First, the case is before a competent court of jurisdiction. Secondly, there are issues of customs and tradition, which one can’t ignore. There’s the view held by many Kotoko fans that, they as indigenes of Ashanti, like Dr. Sarpong, wouldn’t drag Kotoko which is owned by the Asantehene to court.

Their reasons are that, taking that action is equivalent to dragging the Asantehene to court, something they would never attempt to do. Kotoko is eternally owned by the Asantehene. Thus one can’t sue the club in a case like this without drawing its owner into the fray. They say the two are not detachable. Kotoko is the Asantehene and the Asantehene is Kotoko, they argue.

The above argument notwithstanding, the case is already in court. That must be respected.

As a journalist, I fully respect that, knowing the consequences of not showing that respect. Back to the contrasting views some fans believe that, the case must be settled in court so that the court can make a definite and binding pronouncement. Others think, it should be settled out of court to forestall the situation where Kotoko’s dirty linen will be washed in public.

Then there are those who also argue that, if there should be an out of court settlement, Dr. K. K. Sarpong respectfully should initiate that process, not Asante Kotoko. There are also those who are of the conviction that, to bring an end to the trend where ex-Kotoko managers make claims of the club owing them after their service, this case must be heard in court.

They say it will lead to some lasting changes regarding the management of Kotoko’s finances by those appointed by the Great King to manage it. Lawyers representing Kotoko are confident of mounting stoic defence in court. The National Circles Council have reposed absolute confidence in Kotoko’s lawyers. It doesn’t also look like an out of court settlement is in the offing given what a highly placed management source has said elsewhere in this publication.

“Kotoko want the case to be resolved by the court and in court. There’s no chance of an out court settlement” the source said. “Anybody thinking of an out of court settlement should forget about it. It’s not going to happen. Kotoko have been dragged to court. Kotoko lawyers have responded to the claims made against it. When the case is finally called and the legal battle begins, the club’s lawyers will argue their case as expected” the source added.

The source continues: “From the information available, Kotoko haven’t sued any individual or any club. Kotoko haven’t taken anybody to court. Kotoko haven’t instituted any court action so where from those appeals? Why are they not appealing to those who sued Kotoko? “Kotoko won’t go for an out of court settlement. If people are bent on seeing Kotoko doing that, they should stop; it will not happen…Kotoko is well positioned to fight this case” it ended. 

At this stage, I can only give an advice. That advice goes to Kotoko supporters especially. In the i

nterest of the case and indeed Kotoko, all commentaries should be made with the greatest of circumspection. There is no point in seeking to say anything that will be injurious to the outcome of the case. Again, we must be cautious with our remarks on the case. We should stay away from prejudicial comments. Eventually when the case has been thoroughly dealt with by the court, I will be back on the issue.

My little worry with the Elite Cup

GFA Communications Director, Ibrahim Sannie Daara.

When the Elite Cup was introduced, I commended the Ghana Football Association (GFA) not merely for the introduction but for the objective with which the competition was added to the FA’s calendar. It was to keep clubs active, they said; as a result of the long delay to the start of the Premier League following the legal battle between King Faisal and the FA.

The Elite Cup was important. Even though not many matches were played especially by the Premier League clubs before the King Faisal-GFA legal tussle that stalled the commencement of the league ended. Lower division clubs started playing the preliminary round matches until the number of participating clubs were whittled down to 16 a couple of weeks back.

Two division one clubs eventually reached the group stage. Sixteen (16) teams were recently grouped into four with each group having four clubs. The clubs are to play on home and away basis with the point-system being the same as that of the Premier League.

A cursory look at the groupings reveal that, the geographical location of the clubs were very much considered otherwise no type of random selection or balloting could place for example, three Brong Ahafo Regional clubs and in fact, All Stars into one group. These clubs are all in the northern zone of the country.

I am not faulting whatever wisdom that went into the grouping of the clubs. I am rather applauding it, since the geographical zone will help reduce travel cost. If the sole reason for introducing the Elite Cup was to keep the clubs more active than they have been over seasons, I think the GFA and its Elite Cup committee is having the purpose being served.

If it was to simply keep the clubs busy because the Premier League wasn’t in session, that objective has been defeated or in fact, it has to be revised. The Premier League has been in session since January. We have completed the first round – patiently awaiting the start of the second round. These are very little thoughts I have on the Elite Cup but my major worry with the competition so far has got to do with the general outlook if not its image.

Has it been branded well? It is true that, the FA has financial constraints but I’m of the view that, not everything is done with big money. Certain things take little money, deep thinking, commitment, dedication and smartness to execute. That is what the FA hasn’t done when it comes to properly branding or publicizing the Elite Cup. Despite the FA’s financial difficulties, it’s hard to understand why for example, they don’t have a competition logo for the Elite Cup.

How much does the designing of a competition logo cost, which the GFA can’t afford? If Kotoko Express as a club newspaper committed to the development of domestic football decides to publicize the Elite Cup, what image or logo will it use as a print media house?

Will Kotoko Express have to design its own logo using Kotoko players? What if Hearts News – the official mouthpiece of Accra Hearts of Oak also decides to have a design which predictably will be different from that of Kotoko Express? There will be an identity crisis if not confusion.

It is not for nothing that, for CAF or FIFA competitions, logos are designed for media or promotional use. I’m aware that, the FA has been chasing sponsorship for the Elite Cup. Perhaps when they secure one, there will be a graphical image or a logo for the Elite Cup.

Should we wait till then? The FA already has a logo. It has its corporate colours. It should be easy for them to design a logo for the Elite Cup using its corporate colours. That could help publicity and branding of the competition especially by print media houses.

This issue of Elite Cup competition logo might be negligible but it’s extremely vital for me as a print media person seeking to publicize the competition either in my newspaper, website or social media. I urge the FA and the Elite Cup committee to reflect on this very simple issue. If domestic football will develop, it requires little efforts by us all but the FA must lead the path.

Why Nyantakyi can't boycott Hearts matches

GFA President, Kwesi Nyantakyi.

It’s a painful conclusion I’ve come to. I think at times, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) open itself up for too much bashing. The other time, it was a remark reportedly made by the GFA President, Kwesi Nyantakyi that sparked public criticism of the FA. Nyantakyi was quoted as saying that, he wouldn’t watch matches of Accra Hearts of Oak again, after some rogues parading in ‘rainbow colours’ attempted to physically attack the decent, respected man.

It was most unfortunate that, this came just about a week to the 14th anniversary of the May 9th stadium disaster which killed 127 fans. That, people could still think of violence at the very stadium which witnessed that catastrophic football tragedy in our history, tells me that, many are yet to learn anything worthy from the horrifying incident of 2001.

I sympathize with the GFA President for any trauma he might have suffered as a result of his near-assault. I however can’t agree with him. I think his decision to boycott Hearts of Oak matches isn’t right. If anybody would say such a thing, it shouldn’t be the FA President.

I accept that, the GFA President is human and as a rational human being, he would avoid anything that has the tendency to harm him or senselessly end his handsome, young life.

But the crux of my disagreement with him is this: if GFA President wouldn’t want to visit a match venue because of acts of violence or hooliganism, who should go to that venue?

Let me make myself clearer. I’m not saying, the GFA President has to ignore the risk of being attacked by some scoundrels and visit any match centre where there’s a threat to his life. I’m only saying that, as the figurehead; as the number one person entrusted with the management our football; as the ‘father of Ghana football’, President Nyantakyi didn’t have to say that.

All things considered, his comments were in my opinion, a bad advertisement for the league.

It appeared as a discouragement to any individual wishing to watch Hearts matches. As I said earlier, if the GFA President isn’t interested in watching Hearts matches apparently because of the violent behaviour of some of their fans, who would he encourage to watch Hearts matches?

I’m not preaching hypocrisy but at best, the GFA President could have kept that unpopular decision to himself rather than making it public to expose himself and the FA to the avoidable criticism. The behaviour by those Hearts supporters must be condemned in no uncertain terms.

The attempt by some Hearts supporters to rationalize their primitive attitude and the radio interview by one of their leaders that, it was rather the Premier League Board Chairman they were looking for goes to show how misguided some supporters’ leaders are and can be.

Hooliganism is real in our football. We can’t deny that. There have been many incidents of violence at league centres, perpetrated by supporters of practically every football club here. Sadly, we don’t seem to have dealt with violence in our game as decisively as we should. There may be laws that see to the punishment of clubs for violence at their matches but I say those laws don’t really bite.

What is more, it is not enough to continue punishing clubs for crowd violence while the very people who carry out the irrational acts of violence eternally walk free. It may well be world-wide football practice to have clubs punished, when their supporters misbehave but that practice does exist with the actual perpetrators of stadium violence also being punished.

Where possible, those perpetrators are arrested, prosecuted and jailed if found guilty.

In some cases, they are even banned for life or barred making stadium appearances.

It’s understandable that, we don’t live in the kind of system that can accurately identify and track hooligans, arrest and punish them. But with police presence at the stadium, it shouldn’t be difficult arresting and prosecuting people who take the law into their hands.

If it’s about repealing our football laws that don’t seem to bite well, we must chart that path to fight the canker head-on. I share Mr. Nyantakyi’s pain but Mr. President, please rescind your decision for it doesn’t serve the GFA’s interest of promoting the local Premier League.