REPORT OF THE GHANA FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (GFA) FACT FINDING COMMITTEE ON CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING PLAYER CHARLES TAYLOR'S CONTRACT WITH HEARTS OF OAK AND RELATED MATTERS

1. INTRODUCTION
In the midst of the furore and controversy surrounding the request of Player Charles Taylor ("Taylor") to Hearts of Oak to transfer him to Asante Kotoko coupled with the GFA's proposal for an arbitration on Taylor's proposed transfer, certain differences appeared to have been created between the claims and counter claims of Taylor and his lawyers on one side and Hearts of Oak on the other hand.
The differences centred around the genuineness of Taylor's signature on the letter dated 3rd March 2003 purportedly written to him by Hearts of Oak requesting his transfer to Asante Kotoko; the validity of Taylor's contract with Hearts of Oak; part payment of an enticement fee of 50m by Hearts of Oak to Taylor, Taylor's execution of the GFA and CAF Player Licenses and related matters.
After reviewing the claims and counter claims of Taylor and his lawyers on one hand and Hearts of Oak on the other hand, the GFA considered it prudent to set up a fact finding Committee to investigate the various competing claims in order to establish the true facts of the situation.

2. FACT FINDING COMMITTEE
In pursuance thereof, a fact-finding committee was constituted to carry out a thorough investigation into the competing claims of Taylor and Hearts of Oak. The membership of the Committee was made up of Messrs Kwesi Nyantakyi, Ben Koufie, E. A. Owusu Ansah, Sylvester Mensah, Yaw La Danso-Addo and Kofi Nsiah as Secretary.

3. TERMS OF REFERENCE
The Committee was to investigate five (5) issues set out as follows:
i. Whether or not Taylor signed a new Contract to play for Hearts of Oak after expiry of his existing Contract in March 2003.
ii. Was Taylor paid an enticement fee by Hearts of Oak pursuant to the Contract above (if any?)
iii. Did Taylor sign the GFA & CAF Player Licenses?
iv. Did Taylor sign the Letter dated 3rd March purportedly requesting Hearts of Oak to release him to Asante Kotoko?
v. Any matters related or incidental to the above matters and circumstances surrounding each of the above issues.

4. REPRESENTATION AT MEETING
After due notification to the affected parties the meeting convened with the following representation: -
For Hearts of Oak
Ernest Thompson - Counsel for Hearts
Mr Thomas Okine - Chief Executive
Mr George Hemans - Management Member
Mr Randy Abbey - PR Manager
Mr Ashford Tettey Oku - Adm. Manager

Taylor and his team were represented as follows:
Mr Charles Taylor - The Player
Mr Seth Adjei Mensah - (Taylor's Brother)
Mr Dua Adonteng - Lead Counsel for Taylor
Mr Philip Mensah - Counsel for Taylor

4.2 Detailed consideration of issues

4.3 Did Taylor sign a new contract to play for Hearts of Oak after the expiry of his contract in March 2003?

It may be refreshing to note that in 2000 Taylor signed a 3-year contract to play for Hearts of Oak. The said contract expired on 11th March 2003. Another 3-year contract was signed by the parties on 7th March 2003 under circumstances, which Taylor and his lawyers claim are compelling enough to vitiate the effect of the said contract.
According to Taylor ably supported by his two lawyers, after the expiry of his year 2000 contract with Hearts of Oak, he told the latter that he was no longer going to play for Hearts of Oak. Sometime later Hearts of Oak arranged for him to undertake trials with FC Zurich in Switzerland. After a few weeks in Switzerland, he returned to Ghana. He received an invitation to attend a meeting with the Management of Hearts of Oak in the office of Mr Thomas Okine. Taylor said he attended the meeting with George Hemans and Seth Adjei Mensah. At the meeting, Mr Okine requested him to sign a new contract with Hearts of Oak.

He initially declined to sign the contract on the grounds that he had already decided not to play for Hearts of Oak but Mr Okine explained to him that Hearts were negotiating his transfer to FC Zurich. Taylor said Mr Okine further explained that Hearts' bargaining position would be strengthened if it had a contract with him. More so, once he was due to be transferred to Switzerland, committing himself by contract was for a short while.
Based on the above representations, Taylor said he signed the contract with Hearts of Oak. Taylor's brother Seth Adjei Mensah corroborated Taylor's evidence and added that he witnessed Taylor's signature on the contract. Before he (Seth) signed, he noticed that there was no duration on the contract so he drew Taylor's attention to it. Hearts later inserted 3 years as the duration of the Contract.

Mr Dua Adonteng, Counsel for Taylor argued and invited the Committee to set aside Taylor's contract with Hearts on account of the peculiar circumstances of the case. He posited that Taylor executed the contract with the understanding that he will soon be transferred to FC Zurich in Switzerland. According to Mr Adonteng, the second motive behind the contract was to give Hearts of Oak a bargaining strength in its negotiations with FC Zurich. He therefore argued that Taylor and Hearts of Oak were not "ad idem" i.e. to say there was no meeting of the two minds or in ordinary parlance there was no agreement because whereas Hearts of Oak intended to have a 3 year Contract with Taylor, Taylor on the other hand on the basis of the representations by Hearts intended to be bound to Hearts for a short while whilst arrangements were concluded for his transfer to FC Zurich. Mr Adonteng finally submitted that the contract failed to recite the earlier contract of 7th March 2003 and therefore should be set aside.

Mr Thompson stated the position of Hearts on this matter. According to him the Agreement between Taylor and Hearts was valid. The contract was duly signed by Taylor and Hearts and the issue of duration resolved before Taylor left Mr Okine's office.
In resolving the above issue, the Committee held the view that the intention of parties to a document must be gathered from the written instrument itself. Effect must be given to the intention of the parties, not what was intended to have been expressed. The Committee cannot think for the parties and substitute the presumed intention for the expressed intention of the parties. Taylor signed the contract dated 7th March 2003 knowing very well what was intended which said intention was clearly captured in the said contract. His brother Seth Adjei Mensah witnessed his signature and drew his attention to the issue of duration. Taylor did not later call for a cancellation or amendment of the contract leaving the contract as it is.

We are reasonably certain that once he signed all the documents presented him, he ought or is presumed to know the consequences of signing the said documents. Taylor even provided further proof of how his "usual" signature is and demonstration of his capacity to sign.

The circumstances of this case appear to us that Taylor's oral evidence will not be entertained to vary what has been clearly and unambiguously stated in the contract dated 7th March 2003.

Does failure to recite the expired contract nullify the new contract? Our short answer is NO. We are unable to accede to Mr Adonteng's request to the Committee to disregard the contract on this ground.

We observe that even under article 30 (2) (C) of the GFA Regulations, Charles Taylor remains a player of Hearts of Oak with or without a new contract 90 days after expiry of his old contract on 11th March 2003.

4.4 Was Taylor paid an enticement fee by Hearts of Oak?
Analogous to the issue of whether or not Taylor signed a contract with Hearts is whether Taylor was paid an enticement fee pursuant to a contract.

During the investigations, the Committee was informed that before he agreed to sign the contract, Taylor demanded to be paid 150m whereas Hearts of Oak offered to pay him an enticement fee for the contract. What appeared to differentiate the parties was that whereas Taylor insisted on receiving the whole 100m which he planned to invest in a building project, Hearts offered to pay him 50m and the balance of 50m to be paid within 3 weeks. The offer of Hearts of Oak was rejected by Taylor.

However, George Hemans, a Management Member of Hearts and Friend/Benefactor of Taylor tried unsuccessfully to persuade Taylor to receive the sum of 50m offered by Hearts. George Hemans collected the 50m and kept the same amount for sometime during which Taylor maintained that he would not accept the 50m offered. He wanted the full payment of 100,000,000.

After keeping the money for sometime Mr Hemans decided to pay the 50m into his account at SSB Bank LTD, Ring Road Branch, Accra. He later issued a cheque dated 19th March 2003 and paid the same into Taylor's account with the same Bank on 24th March 2003.
Taylor denied knowledge of receipt of the said 50m and explained the circumstances under which he had an account at SSB Ring Road Branch. According to Taylor before he signed the contract with Hearts, he used to accompany Mr Hemans to the Bank. One day, Mr Hemans informed him that he wanted to give him (Taylor) 20m to open an account at the SSB Bank Ring Road Branch.

Mr Hemans accordingly took Taylor to the Bank whereupon account-opening forms were received for completion. Taylor said he duly completed the forms which the Committee presumed to be the mandate Forms. Taylor could not however remember that he thumb printed other forms, which were shown to him at the hearing. His brother Seth Adjei Mensah stated that he accompanied Taylor and Mr George Hemans to the SSB Bank Ring Road Branch where Taylor and Mr George Hemans went to the counter to transact business. He was however not at the counter to see what exactly happened.
Be that as it may, the Committee is satisfied that an account was opened for Taylor at SSB Ring Road Branch wherein Mr Hemans deposited the 50m which Taylor refused to accept. The said amount has remained in the account up to date.

It is noteworthy that since the account was opened, Taylor has not received a statement, chequebook and notification thereof. As a result he does not know his account number, neither does he have a chequebook and information on transactions affecting the account. He did not therefore know that the 50m had been paid into his account. The 50m has remained in the account up to date.

Mr Adonteng, Counsel for Taylor submitted that Taylor's Agreement with Hearts was the payment of 100m in full or never. According to him once the 100m was never paid in full, the contract with Hearts was invalid null and void.

Mr Thompson, Counsel for Hearts in reply submitted that there was an agreement to pay Taylor 100m. Pursuant to which Hearts offered to pay him 50m and the balance of 50m later. Hearts' inability to pay the 100m in full at once could not invalidate the contract.
A cursory look at the contract showed that the parties agreed on an inducement or enticement fee of 100m payable as follows: -
50m - paid
50m - paid

The contract indicated that the balance of the 50m was due. During the investigations, both Taylor and Seth admitted that Hearts offered to pay the balance of 50m in 3 weeks time. This piece of evidence was not denied or controverted by Hearts. It therefore appears that Hearts have failed to pay Taylor the balance of his 50m within time. But does failure to pay the balance of the debt within time vitiate the entire contract? The contract does not say so. It simply means that Hearts owe Taylor 50m which said amount must be paid to him immediately.

The failure of Hearts of Oak to pay Taylor 100m in full at once does not vitiate the contract. If the parties intended that to be a condition of the contract they would have stated that in clear terms. They have not and do not intend it to regulate the contract.

4.5 Did Taylor sign the CAF and GFA Player Licenses?
Yes Taylor did. He explained that Hearts of Oak persuaded him to sign the CAF Player License since there was a deadline for that. So that anytime he changed his mind to play for Hearts it would be easy to do that. Furthermore, he was informed by Mr Okine that since he was soon to be transferred to FC Zurich his stay in Hearts was for a short while so he should just sign the cards.
As a condition for signing the CAF License, the player needs to be registered for the domestic league. Accordingly, Taylor agreed and signed the GFA Player Licenses.
Taylor signed the Licenses knowing very well the consequences of that. For by signing the Licenses, he agreed to be bound to Hearts as a player.

4.6 Did Taylor sign the Letter dated 3rd March 2003 purportedly requesting his release to Asante Kotoko?
On 3rd March 2003, a letter dated 3rd March 2003 purportedly written and signed by Taylor was forwarded to the Chief Executive of Hearts requesting Hearts to negotiate his transfer to Kotoko. The said letter was copied to Kotoko and the GFA.
On 4th March 2003, Asante Kotoko wrote to Hearts expressing the desire to negotiate Taylor's transfer to Asante Kotoko. Attached to the Kotoko letter was Taylor's letter of 3rd March 2003. The signature on Taylor's letter was not the usual signature known to Hearts so their immediate reaction was to write to the GFA and allege that Taylor's signature had been forged on the said letter.

During the Committee's meeting Taylor admitted that although the signature was not his "usual" signature known to all, he signed the letter. He said he could not sign the same signature again.
He explained the circumstances that gave rise to signing of the letter. According to Taylor, around the time he signed the letter, Mr Hemans had promised to take him to Japan. Kotoko officials also approached him to play for them. At that time he just scribbled a signature on the letter to satisfy Kotoko so that he could concentrate on his discussions with Mr Hemans to take him to Japan.

From investigations, the Committee is satisfied that Taylor signed the letter dated 3rd March 2003. The signature of Taylor was not a forged one but his own. There was nothing criminal about the scribble of his mark.

4.7 Incidental Matters
4.7.1 Mr Thompson invited the committee to investigate when Taylor's last contract with Hearts expired.

We wish to state that, from the records available to the GFA, Taylor's contract with Hearts ended on 11th March 2003.

FINDINGS AND DECISION
After a careful evaluation of all the evidence presented (both documentary and oral) the Committee duly considered the same and makes the following findings of fact as its decision.
a. Charles Taylor signed a valid Contract with Hearts of Oak on 7th March 2003.

b. Charles Taylor agreed with Hearts of Oak to be paid an inducement/enticement fee of 100m as consideration for his contract with Hearts of Oak. Hearts of Oak has paid 50m of the said amount into Taylor's account at SSB Bank Limited, Ring Road Branch, Accra. The balance of 50m which Hearts ought to have paid within 3 weeks after 7th March 2003 has remained owing and outstanding to date.

c. Charles Taylor signed the GFA and CAF Player Licenses in 2003. He is accordingly regarded as a Player of Hearts of Oak. In the circumstances, the GFA will proceed to endorse Charles Taylor's Player License as a player of Hearts of Oak. Any club interested in seeking the services of Taylor must in accordance with FIFA, CAF, and GFA regulations negotiate and obtain his release from Hearts of Oak.

d. It appears that it was in recognition of this that on 4th March 2003, Asante Kotoko wrote to Hearts of Oak for the release of Taylor.

e. It is necessary for Players to involve their professional advisers in all negotiations with their clubs to forestall the recurrence of cases where the affected players will turn around and complain about terms of their contracts. Club officials should as much as possible encourage their players to attend negotiations of their contracts with their professional advisers, notably lawyers, accountants, etc.

f. The Committee is of the opinion that the signature mark on the letter written on 3rd March 2003 was that of Charles Taylor.

g. The GFA has noted the declaration of intention of Taylor to leave Hearts of Oak. Furthermore, we note that Taylor is a national asset. Playing football is the profession of Taylor. In view of the foregoing, the GFA is of the opinion that Hearts of Oak should within one week from the date hereof meet with Charles Taylor at a suitable venue for resolution of the impasse between the two parties.