Kumasi, Oct 24, GNA - Kumasi Asante Kotoko has called on the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to take steps to enforce its decision that Accra Hearts of Oak refunded the 200 million cedis to them within the stipulated 21 days.
The club said since the 200 million cedis was paid to the GFA for onward transmission to Accra Hearts of Oak, it was the GFA who must take steps to have the fine returned to the club.
Addressing a press conference on the matter in Kumasi on Friday, Nana Yaw Owusu, Vice-Chairman of the Kotoko Interim Management Committee (IMC), said the club will not hesitate to resort to all available means against the GFA if at the expiry of the 21 days, it has not received its money, pointing out that Kotoko had at no material time paid any sum of money directly to Hearts of Oak.
Nana Owusu said the enforcement of decisions in association football at the national level was the exclusive preserve of the national association, adding, "no single club in the annals of association football in Ghana has ever enforced a decision or ruling of the GFA".
He said from FIFA through CAF to the GFA, there was no rule or regulation which gave any club affiliated to a national association the right to enforce a decision or ruling given by the national association. That is why the GFA in its earlier ruling ordering Charles Taylor and Kotoko to pay fines of 650 million cedis and 200 million cedis respectively, did not state that in the event of a default on the part of Charles Taylor and Kotoko, Hearts of Oak could pursue any legal remedy for the payment of the fine.
Nana Owusu said as far as Kotoko was concerned the enforcement of the rulings delivered by the GFA were within the exclusive jurisdiction of the GFA and not Kotoko as an individual club affiliate to the GFA and participating in GFA organised competitions.
The IMC Vice-Chairman said Kotoko had noticed with great concern the behaviour of the GFA in the whole Charles Taylor saga, pointing out that what Kotoko has noticed was that the GFA capitulated anytime threats were issued by Hearts of Oak.
"We would like to place on record that we have behaved in a civilised manner during this whole saga and that should not be taken to mean that we are weak and are incapable of flexing our very huge muscles."
Nana Owusu said Kotoko had no intention of using its dominant position in terms of support in Ghana football to make Ghana football ungovernable.
However, if the GFA fails to act in this particular instance as swift as possible, we cannot promise peace as far as the administration of football in this country is concerned.
To buttress Kotoko's dominant support in Ghana football, he said, within the seven-month period of the Premier league, Kotoko had paid a total of 1.7 billion cedis in taxes and other money to revenue agencies and the other affiliate bodies.
He said Kotoko paid 536.9 million cedis to the VAT Office, 144.7 million cedis to GHALCA, 353.4 million cedis to the National Sports Council (NSC), 205.3 million cedis to the professional League Board (PLB) and 410.4 million cedis to the GFA.
The IMC Vice-Chairman said no club participating in the Premier league had paid anything close to what Kotoko had paid to the revenue agencies or any of the affiliate bodies.
Nana Owusu said any football association that was very much aware of the precarious financial positions of almost all clubs in Ghana would not go ahead and impose the very astronomical fines, even as a deterrent, cannot be said to be a responsible football association.
Giving the background to the whole saga, the IMC Vice-Chairman said having imposed the fines on Charles Taylor and Kotoko, they paid the fines per separate banker's draft drawn in favour of the GFA.
After the payment of the fines, he said, subsequent investigations revealed that the cheque used as evidence before the GFA committee that decided on the Charles Taylor saga had been dishonoured. On the revelation that the cheque had been dishonoured, representations were made to the GFA for the matter to be re-opened as there has been a total failure of consideration in respect of the contract Charles Taylor was said to have breached.
Nana Owusu said in spite of the fact that the GFA was to re-open the matter in response to representations and protests made by Kotoko based on certain facts it had uncovered in the purported Charles Taylor and Hearts of Oak contract and that the findings would be made public within seven days, the GFA in an unimaginable manner handed over the banker's draft to Hearts of Oak.
Surprisingly, he said, it took the GFA more than three months to conclude its investigations which set aside the compensation imposed on Taylor and withdrew the four months suspension imposed on him. He said Kotoko's position was that it was unable to accept the GFA's decision that the club (Kotoko) should take legal action for the recovery of the fines in the event of a default on the part of Hearts of Oak.
