Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club Ltd and four members of the Board of Directors of the club have been dragged to court once again by one Edmund Addoquaye Addo, a supporter of the club.
The board members being summoned to court are the Board Chairman, Ato Ahwoi; Board Secretary, Ernest Thompson; Ernest Bediako and I. A. Issaka.
The plaintiff, who is a member of Hearts Chapter 5 and a resident of Tema New Town, is praying the court to compel the club, which is a limited liability company, and the four board members to, among other things, produce audited account of all moneys they have received by way of gate proceeds, donations and sponsorship among others, in respect of domestic football matches sanctioned by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) between 1994 and 2001 football seasons.
He is also seeking an audited account of all moneys received by the defendants by way of gate proceeds, sponsorship, donations in respect of international football matches sanctioned by the continent's football controlling body, CAF, as well as an audited account of moneys accrued from the transfer of the club's players from 1994 to date.
In addition, the plaintiff also wants the court to compel the defendants "to produce the original copies of all contracts pertaining to domestic and foreign transfer of players since August 1994 " and "an order to compel the defendants to file annual returns with the Registrar General's Department, from 1994 to date, in compliance with the Companies Code, 1963 (Act 179)." He named at least 29 players including Stephen Appiah and the late Shamo Quaye as having been traded on the transfer market, 23 of whom have left for foreign clubs but without any account on their transfers.
The writ filed at a High Court in Accra on behalf of the plaintiff by his solicitors, Brookman-Amissah & Associates contends that since their appointments to the Board of the club in 1994, the defendants have failed to render account of moneys they have received in the name of the club to members of the company, although they have been in charge of the company during the period over which he is seeking those relieves.
The writ identified Addoquaye Addo as a duly registered member of the company and Tema Chapter 5, a branch of the supporters' front of the club.
The document also said the defendants have failed to convene a single Annual General Meeting since a purported maiden edition was held in 1994.
