Olympics management supports Solomon

Accra, Nov 20, GNA - The entire membership of Accra Great Olympics management committee has pledged its total support to their chairman, Mr Richard Oblitei Solomon in the face of a sack statement issued by some members of the Board of Directors.

In an interview with the GNA Sports on Thursday, three members of the committee, namely, Mr Emmanuel Nii Ankrah, Mr Kwame Takyi and Stephen Klu Adjei Nmashie said they were speaking on behalf of the entire membership, which had met on Wednesday night to take a unified decision on the matter.

They said they would not be cowed by an action, which was taken by only two members of the Board to abandon their colleague chairman, who in their estimation has been doing everything humanly possible to change the fortunes of the club.

Mr Ankrah said they have resolved to support and work with the chairman because the reasons being adduced by those who claim to represent the Board lacked cogency and smacked of moral decadence.

He said it is the desire of the current crop of management members of Olympics to see a smooth transition, the second in the history of the club and it would just be proper to see Mr Solomon through his tenure which is just a few week away, as he had indicated he would not present himself for consideration when his current tenure expires at the end of the season.

The management committee member said the only smooth handing over in the annals of Olympics was the transition from Mr Perry Doku to Major Fred Sam and it was time administrative decency and smooth baton changing became the hallmark of the club.

He said the allegation that the chairman had no time for Olympics' business was false because Mr Solomon chaired a reappraisal meeting on Friday, where they tried to find the cause of their heavy loss to Arsenals two days earlier.

Mr Ankrah said they decided to motivate the boys sufficiently ahead of their match against Heart of Lions, culminating in the issuance of cheques to all the players to redeem part of their sign on fees, adding that it is the practice of all clubs to pay sign on fees in bits as a security measure because some players vanish after collecting their cheques.

When he took his turn, Mr Nmashie said the decision of the Board members was in bad taste and assured the Olympics family that they would support Mr Solomon to the end in his crusade to institute accountability and openness in running the club.

He said the chairman has tried to bring all segments of the Olympics fraternity on board by arranging meeting which were attended by the council of patrons, management members, retired players, executive members of the welfare unit, representatives of supporters and relatives of the founding fathers of the club.

Mr Nmashie said Mr Solomon has tried to shape their mentality towards the floatation of shares to open up the club to people who are interested in buying shares in the club.

He said he believed the attempt to sack the chairman was mooted by those who do not want the progress of the club and desire Olympics retains the status quo, where a few people will weld themselves into a power block to thwart the good intentions of the management committee in pursuit of their personal agenda.

Mr Takyi said one of the issues the chairman is pursuing with vigour is a compelling edict, which will allow only those who buy shares to become directors of the club.

He said he believed the sack step was taken to enable some of the Board members to dodge their responsibilities by making genuine investments into the club through the purchase of shares as is being advocated by Mr Solomon.

When pressed to comment on the situation, Mr Solomon said he and his colleagues have been working very hard to change the face of Olympics by trying to establish some structures, which will attract capital into the club and turn it into serious business.

He said he was surprised that Mr David Fugar and Mr Seth Ankrah felt threatened by his machinations to compel directors to buy shares in the club.

The chairman said so far as he is concerned, he remains the chairman and would serve his term, which ends with the current season, adding that he would not make himself available for re-election.

Mr Solomon said he would remain a committed member of the Olympics family when he is out of office and advised those who claim to love Olympics to do things that will improve the fortunes of the club.

While the interview was going on, a vice chairman of the club Mr Eric Afotey Odai called form Nungua to pledge his solidarity to Mr Solomon.

Mr Odai said he was approached by Mr Seth Ankrah and Mr David Fugar to step into the shoes of Mr Solomon but he declined because he did not know the basis for the action.