Kotoko Call For Support

The management of Kumasi Asante Kotoko has called on private individuals, public spirited organisations and supporters of the club to offer all the needed financial and moral support as it prepares to host Egypt's Ghazel El Mahala in the first leg quarterfinal of the African Cup Winners Cup on Sunday.

Management also disclosed that its major sponsor Spacefon has committed to offer financial support beyond its sponsorship package for the smooth hosting of Sunday's game.

These were the highlights of a well-attended press conference at the club's Accra secretariat in Kumasi yesterday.

Addressed by Chief Executive Herbert Mensah, Director of Finance George Amoako and Accra Representative Kwame Amoa-Bosompem, Kotoko explained that it had been compelled to hike rates for the match to enable the club raise adequate funding to support the huge expenses the club is saddled with.

An elaborate entertainment package has also been organised on the match-day with a host of popular artistes lined up to entertain fans before kick off. We publish the full text of a statement released at the press conference.

STATEMENT BY THE MANAGEMENT OF KUMASI ASANTE KOTOKO AT A PRESS CONFERENCE HELD AT THE ACCRA SECRETARIAT OF THE CLUB ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2002

Ladies and gentlemen of the press, the management of Kumasi Asante Kotoko has invited you here to brief you on our detailed programme for this weekend's African Cup Winners first leg quarterfinal match against Ghazel El Mahala of Egypt and to solicit your support to ensure a successful hosting of the match. Management has released the rates for the match as follows:

Popular Stand - 20,000
Centre Line - 25,000
Outer Wings - 50,000
Inner Wings - 100,000
VIP Annex - 200,000

We have been compelled to fix these rates because we are saddled with huge expenses in hosting this match. We are obligated to host the visiting team, fly them to Kumasi, purchase air tickets for match officials, pay their allowances, camp our players and foot several other miscellaneous expenses.

We are currently running the club at a huge deficit as a result of the two CAF matches hosted earlier this year and that deficit is expected to grow bigger as a result of next Sunday's match.

Asante Kotoko's major source of revenue as most of you are aware is gate proceeds. It is for that reason that we have over the past few weeks embarked on a campaign to get our supporters to throng the stadium so we can raise some funds for our huge club expenditure. In hosting a game such as next Sunday's we are not accorded any credit facilities, as we are obliged by CAF regulations to pay all our obligations on schedule.

With no governmental subvention as is the norm in other African countries, notably Senegal, Cameroun and South Africa; we are compelled to seek our own sources of funding which are not significant enough to cushion the financial base.

We are thus appealing to the media present here to help hype Sunday's match with Mahala and also help the public to appreciate our precarious situation as we attempt once again to put the image of Ghana onto a higher pedestal. By calling on our supporters and all nationally spirited Ghanaians to come to the Kumasi Sports Stadium on Sunday, we can go a long way to shoulder the huge financial responsibility this competition has brought us. We are also calling on individuals and organisations to offer us support in cash or kind to help us host this great event.

We wish to offer great gratitude to our sponsors, Spacefon for their continued support. Aside their monthly sponsorship payments, Spacefon have also agreed to offer financial support to help organise this match. We are also thankful to Voltic who have supported us with mineral water for the past three years. Voltic have donated 50 cartons of mineral water for the successful hosting of Sunday's match.

The match itself has been scheduled to kick off at 2pm on Sunday, September 1 to enable supporters travelling from all parts of Ghana to travel to Kumasi and return early enough to get refreshed for the demands of Monday . The bad conditions on the Accra-Kumasi road also make it imperative that supporters travel during the day to ensure maximum safety. We are pleading with travellers and drivers of public vehicles that will be transporting our supporters to Kumasi to drive safely and seek the protection of the omnipotent before they set off on their journeys. Kotoko and Ghana require you alive.

Management has put in a comprehensive entertainment package that would kick-start at 10am on match day. In attendance will be hiplife stars like Kwaadei, Tic Tac, Sony Achiba, Papa Shee and the one and only Yaw Sarpong.

A 29-man Ghazel El Mahala delegation is scheduled to arrive at 3.30am tomorrow by Egyptair. Management has been compelled to arrange a flight for the Egyptians following their insistence that we follow CAF rules that stipulate that distances over 200km from the port of arrival require host clubs to arrange air travel for visiting teams. The media is invited to meet Mahala at the Kotoka International Airport. Kumasi media can meet them at the Kumasi Airport at approximately 7.45am. Mahala will be hosted at the Georgia Hotel in Kumasi.

Match Commissioner Ojo-Oba-Bolaji from Nigeria is expected to arrive on Thursday, August 28 and the referees; Messrs Sowe Modou, Sugufura Sering and Camara Lamin from Gambia will arrive on Friday, August 29.

MEDIA ACCREDITATION

Special media accreditations for Sunday's match will be issued to all press men who will cover Sunday's match. To ensure a smooth issuance of these accreditations all interested media houses should please contact our PRO, Mohammed Haruna on 024204950. Requests for accreditation can also be made immediately after this press conference.