...Neoplan Stars cry foul

FORMER Black Stars coach Giuseppe Dossena has been accused of smuggling out of the country a Ghanaian player, Osmanu Abdulai, and transferring him to an Italian club without the knowledge of his local club.

The alarm was blown on the Italian coach by Kumasi-based division one side, Neoplan Stars, which gave him two weeks ?to return all monies he personally earned from the transfer of Osmanu?.

In an ultimatum to coach Dossena, now working in Paraguay, the chairman of Neoplan Stars, Mr Abbey Pobee, said about a year ago Osmanu was reported missing by the Kumasi club, only to emerge later that he had actually been sneaked out of the country to play for Genoa in the Italian Serie B.

The ultimatum, copied to FIFA President Joseph Blatter, also tasked the Ghana Football Association to probe how the player got an International Transfer Certificate (ITC) without the knowledge of his Ghanaian club.

It further requested the FA to investigate the role played by Dossena and gather all the relevant information from the player who is currently on holiday in Ghana before he leaves for Europe.

It alleged that Dossena clinched the Genoa deal during his tenure as coach of the Ghana Black Stars but the player has now moved to Sienna, another Italian Serie B club.

The petition dated June 18, 2002, ordered coach Dossena to also effect changes in the contract into the name of Neoplan Stars.

In an interview with the Graphic Sports, Mr Pobee said he reported to the GFA about the disappearance of Osmanu and got to know of his transfer to Genoa, the Italian, through a sports programme on a Kumasi-based radio station.

During the interview the player, Osmanu stated that it was Mr Dossena who took him to Italy and transferred him to Genoa.

He said Genoa also transferred him to Sienna, another Seire B team also in Italy at the end of the last European soccer season.

The letter urged the GFA would act quickly on the petition to retrieve all moneys accruing from the transfer of Osmanu in Dossena?s custody for the club.