We need peace to run Kotoko- George Amoako

Correspondent: David Kyei, Ekumfi Enkrawfo, Central Region

14th September 2007

 The director of finance and administration of Kumasi Asante Kotoko F/C, George Amoako, has descended hard on the known and also faceless people who by their acts have been working hard in creating confusion in the ranks of the Kotoko family.

 He has therefore given a free advice to them to desist from their nefarious activities since their exposure to the public may bring untold hardships on their persons.

Speaking to Kotoko Express at Ekumfi Enkrawfo in the Central Region after he had joined the team to play a festival match against the town’s select side, George Amoako, who comes in as one of the few and rare career football administrators in the country, was very upset with the way Kotoko has been bashed in recent times without recourse to decency and respect to the structures of the club.

According to him, running Kotoko under such peculiar situations where people could create confusion at will and turn round to profess to be Kotoko supporter does not make his work as the man in charge of the day-to-day running of the club a difficult one.

“However, I also know that as a human institution, such frictions are bound to happen and so I have closed my eyes to the distractions around, but rather concentrate on my core duty of effectively and efficiently steering the club to achieve greater heights”

Describing the decision making process of the management of Kotoko as one that allows the free expression of views before the selection of the final point of action to be pursued, George Amoako was therefore surprised that people have misunderstood the expression of divergent views of a group of people whose centre cannot hold.

“In any human institution that success reigns, it has always taken the expression of different views of members to hit the nail right on the head. That is exactly what we do at Kotoko, and will continue to do”

To him, his greatest challenge as the administrator of Kotoko is to lay down efficiently working structures that will stand the test of time long after he and the other members of management have left and gone.

“This will include making sure that all spheres of the club get to work effectively. However, I will as an administrator will only recognise any group only when they place themselves well in the scheme of things for the success of the club”.

“My free advice to those who are pushing themselves for recognition in the club therefore is that, they should first identify themselves in the general scheme of the structures of the club and from there push on for the kind of recognition they tend to seek. Until that is done, we cannot complicate things in the club by sort of giving room for rebel activities,” he said.

Kotoko is a football club like all others in the country, but to the man in charge of the daily running of the club, Kotoko as an institution has different structures that require that each person identify where he/she belongs and appropriate the powers that the position offers.

“This is therefore the reason why I count it preposterous when I hear people call for the removal of members of management as though they put them in those positions”.

“Kotoko has an owner in His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who in his wisdom knows what he wants for the club. It therefore amounts to the highest point of insubordination for any one to think of even trying to think of a sort of telling the King how to run his club”.

“I do not say we abhor criticism. However, criticisms coated in mischief for the achievement of the execution of personal agenda will forever be looked at with the contempt that it deserves”.

“I therefore welcome all criticisms that are constructively made and will never mind sitting down with people who make such criticisms to discuss the way forward. Other than that, I will continue to shun provocative intents and actions”

Letting go of his thoughts of the current situation, he explained to this paper that as far as he was concerned, the club was closing the chapters of the recruitment exercise for the coming season.

“I have seen the team train and play and I will say that with the exception of two spaces that we have left vacant for some serious discussion we are having with some players to fill, all other slots have been closed”.

“This therefore means that we shall be undertaking the second face of ‘getting closer to the fans’ road show with only players who have will be making the final thirty- five”.

Expressing his thoughts on the performance of the newly recruited players, he asked for time for them to effectively bond with their colleagues since it was too early to start making meaningful judgement on them.

“Some of the players have already started showing brilliance with their performance whilst others keep improving, match after match. What we are looking for is to be able to get a solid team that can stand any opposition that they will encounter in the coming season”

He therefore urged true supporters of the club to adhere to his advice and position themselves well for recognition by making their contributions effective and well directed at making the club a successful one.