Kotoko reports Korean club to FIFA

Accra, July 7, GNA - Kumasi Asante Kotoko has formally reported the behaviour of a Korean Club Busan Icon now Busan I'Park to FIFA, world soccer controlling body for an illegal tapping of their former player Michael Osei.

Speaking to the GNA Sports in Accra, Mr Kwabina Kesse, a member of the interim management team of Kotoko said they wrote to FIFA because when the Koreans claimed they made contact with Osei, the player was still under contract with Kotoko and thence had no right to talk with the player without their permission.

He said another decision that fuelled their petition was that Kotoko would not stand by to watch their former player Osei, who contributed his no mean quota during his day to be punished unduly when they could help solve the problem.

He said FIFA has stated this clearly in its statues, outlawing the tapping of player under contract without first talking to their clubs. Mr Kesse said, therefore, for the club to go ahead and deal with the player without clearance from Kotoko was in direct contravention of the laws guiding the game hence Kotoko would be demanding that FIFA fines the Koreans 50,000 Swiss Franca, which should be given to Kotoko. In 2002 Michael Osei was said to have travelled to South Korea with some soccer agents for a justifier with Busan Icons now Busan I'Park.

The Koreans complaint was that after a successful justifier the player was said to have gone ahead to negotiate a 40,000 dollars deal with them under the pretext that he was a free agent and, therefore, entitled to free transfer, which they paid.

It was after the South Korean team wrote to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) demanding the International Transfer Certificate (ITC) of the player that they were told that the player was still under contract with Kotoko.

The Koreans, who were not prepared to negotiate for the release of the player, reported him to FIFA resulting in the world soccer governing body placing a four months' ban on the player. The ban took effect from June 10.

Efforts to get the ban of Michael Osei, who recently moved from Kotoko to Liberty Professionals, lifted had not been restricted to his former club alone as his present club is doing all they can to get the FIFA decision reversed.

But Liberty's efforts appear to have hit a snag, as the agents involved in the deal appear to be frustrating attempts to have the case settled.

With this attitude of the agents involved, Liberty have been forced to change their initial stance to fight the case to rather seek for mercy for the player. 07 July 05