Accra, June 8, GNA - The Ministry of Education and Sports on Wednesday consoled the management and the playing body of Accra Hearts of Oak upon the death of stopgap coach Emmanuel Ofei Ansah on in the early hours of Wednesday.
The coach collapsed and was rushed to the Ridge Hospital in Accra immediately after the gruelling eighth-week GT Premier League against city rivals Dansoman-based Liberty Professionals on Tuesday, which Hearts won 1-0. He was reported to have visited the hospital earlier on Tuesday ahead of the epic match with a cardio related illness but managed to be back on the bench to guide his side to victory.
Mr O. B. Amoah, a Deputy Minister of Education and Sports phoned Mr Tommy Okine, Chief Executive Officer of Hearts on Wednesday morning to express the ministry's shock at Ofei Ansah's death. In a statement issued later on Wednesday, the Ministry said Ofei Ansah's death was a great loss to the country and indeed the football fraternity. "The ministry and indeed the entire nation is saddened by Ofei Ansah's death and wish to express our condolences to both the Hearts management and the coach's family," the statement signed by Mr Amoah said.
The ex-Black Stars cum Hearts player took over the reigns of Archibald Lamptey after a single game. He won five matches including Tuesday's game, which took Hearts to the summit of the log. He was 52. Ofei Ansah's playing career started in 1973 with Hearts after a stint with the club's nursery team Auroras. He joined the technical handlers in 1996 after 13 years of playing career. He partnered former head coach Jones Attuquayefio to conquer Africa in the Champions League in 2000 and the Super Cup in the same year.
In a related development, a rescheduled presentation ceremony of a new Tata bus by President John Agyekum Kufuor to the club at the Castle, Osu, was postponed at the instance of the management of Hearts. The President made the promise early this year after Hearts won the maiden edition of the CAF Confederation Cup, beating eternal rivals Asante Kotoko on penalties.
