Hearts of Oak happy with DC decision

Management of Accra Hearts of Oak has welcomed the ruling of the Ghana Football Association’s Disciplinary Committee in a case of Asante Kotoko’s use of Obed Owusu in their league match against Hearts of Oak in Accra.

Hearts filed a protest after the match and the GFA’s Disciplinary Committee found Kotoko guilty of fielding Owusu who was unqualified for the match after he picked up three yellow cards in previous games.

The Committee penalised Kotoko by declaring them losers of the match they won 2-1 and deducting three points from their total point buildup.

Kotoko’s defence was that Owusu served his suspension when he sat out Kotoko’s Elite Cup match against Wassaman United and thus, his inclusion in the squad for the match against Hearts.

Hearts of Oak PRO Opare-Addo says they were pleased with the decision and they knew they would be successful with their pursuit which was based on whether or not the Elite Cup was sanctioned by the GFA.

” I think there is no ambiguity about that the decision. The rules are clear on what an official match is. In the books of the GFA, the official matches are the league and FA Cup matches.

The Elite Cup is not listed as such. It is classified as a special competition and that has been specified in the regulations,” said Hearts spokesperson Larbi Opare-Addo.

He added: “The rules also state that cautions in one competition cannot be transferred to another competition . We sought the CAF and FIFA regulations and we saw these rules there clearly.

We eventually put our case together and we sent it to the Disciplinary Committee. They then saw that we had a good case and we got our ruling without fear or favour.”

Following the ruling, Hearts were awarded three points on the basis of Kotoko’s status as losers of the match in question. The Phobians are now 7th on 39 points.

Kotoko, on the other hand, now have 36 points after the six-point deduction and are now 15th on the league log.

Hearts of Oak face Berekum Chelsea and WAFA in their final two league matches while Kotoko play Hasaacas and Aduana Stars in their last two matches.