Fred Crentsil to leave Hearts of Oak

Fred Crentsil has agreed to step down as the Chief Executive of Hearts of Oak following his election to the high position of Vice President of the Ghana Football Association. His contract expires at the beginning of next month.

Crenstil has been in charge of the Phobians for two-years in which the club has been, arguably, stagnant in their development. He has decided that the burden of handling the second most powerful portfolio in the country's football will need exclusive attention, which cannot be handled in tandem with his current job.

Hearts of Oak won nothing last season, again losing out in the Premier League's final stages to rivals Kotoko. This led to a cabal within the Hearts community to start angling from his exit, but the club's board repeatedly showed faith with the administrator.

Successor

It is not as yet clear who will succeed Fred Crentsil. The part of the Hearts of Oak family that wanted him out are also unable to provide viable candidates to take the top job. As a result, Crenstil, the eight highest shareholder of Hearts has not been fazed by what he has always suspected to be, what he called last July, "critics who have been paid to get me out of the club, for what reason I don’t know."

Only last month, AshGold CEO was heavily tipped to become head of the club after Crentsil was sacked. The speculation has not really died to date, even though Kudjoe Fianoo has been recently elected onto the Ghana Football Association's Executive Committee as the Premier League Clubs’ representative.

Tenure

Earlier this year, Crentsil launched a withering attack on the media, saying a deliberate plot was in motion to run his administration down. The man did not entirely win the fans over since his appointment following the club’s unconvincing display in the Ghana Premier League.

His inability to land a headline and supporting sponsors to rival that of arch rivals Kotoko were seen as a blight on his tenure by a section of the club fans. But the Ghana FA Executive Committee member said in July that he was always prepared to walk if it was in the club's best interests.

"I was begged to come and take over Hearts of Oak," he had said in a July interview, going on to say: "People talk as if I am a stranger to Hearts when in actual fact I have and always been a staunch supporter of the club.

"They (critics) have been paid to get me out of the club, for what reason I don’t know. I will keep focus on the good things we are doing for the club and will not be distracted."

The Hearts of Oak Chief Executive stood unopposed in Tuesday’s election to replace Jordan Anaglah who passed away some months ago. He was elected by officials of the Electoral Commission of Ghana as the substantive Vice President after other members opted not to contest.