Mismanagement of player contracts in Ghana Football

If there is any one thing that has prevented great football clubs in Ghana from attaining full glories and potentials on the Ghanaian and African football arena, it is nothing more than a continuous string of poor management of player contracts over the past decade.

It is an undisputed fact that this hullabaloo is responsible for more than half of the woes these clubs find themselves in.

In these hard times, Asante Kotoko were ordered by FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber to cough out an amount of US$180,000 to Espérance de Tunis as a fine for wrongly registering Emmanuel Clottey without the consent of the Tunisian side who, according reports had a running contract with the player at the time of the transfer.

Kotoko were also fined an additional US$ 45,000 in interests accrued plus $15,000 as committee charges bringing the total to $240,000 to be paid by May 10 2020, failure of which would have had the club relegated to the lower division of Ghana football.

Asante Kotoko in recent times have been accused of signing over 50 players in two years without laurels to show for it.

Player recruitment in Kotoko in recent years is so rampant and hurriedly done that it leaves everyone thinking whether the team just has money to spend or enjoys the fanfare of outdooring new players.

It is very difficult to appreciate these recruitments with regards to the quality, standard and performance of these players who are hastily signed on.

Some of them never featured in a competitive game for Kotoko during their time with the team, others spent much of their stay on the bench because they were not good enough to command starting places in a team which has little to show for.

With all these, one would ask what kind of management clubs had over the years that has failed to make maximum earnings from players nurtured by clubs. What kind of leadership has been overseeing such unpardonable cycle of managerial errors over the years. ?

The teams need a leadership that knows and is willing to uphold principles of good governance and administration demonstrated in the development and implementation of sound policies and professional marketing strategies that will market and sell players anywhere in the world.

In as much as management have been at fault for players running down their contracts, players have also come under strict criticism for being ungrateful by leaving for free instead of renewing their contracts and being sold.

Accra Hearts of Oak has been known for letting top players leave the club for free in recent times, with the club failing to negotiate contract talks with players a year to the end of their contracts.

Players feel reluctant in negotiating for contract renewal when it is almost due, as they start receiving offers from other clubs to join for free with hefty signing on fees.

Former captain Thomas Abbey left in 2017 after a spectacular season where he finished as second top scorer in the Ghana Premier League with 13 goals and reached the FA cup final. Abbey, Vincent Atingah, Patrick Razak and Kwame Kizito, were all Hearts of Oak players that won the 2017 WAFU tournament with Black Stars B in Ghana. Disappointedly, all four players left the club for free, coupled with other prominent players including Inusah Musah and Isaac Mensah.

Former Hearts of Oak captain Amankwah Mireku spoke about former Hearts striker Joseph Esso’s departure amid supporters claims of player being ungrateful.

”Management can’t be solely blamed for free players exit but sometimes the players decide against extensions but professionally I think management should always start early negotiations with the players if they need them,” he told Nkunim FM.

”Some of the players are ungrateful because players like Atinga, Kizito, Razak and co were all from nowhere but Hearts of Oak gave them the platform but later they stood against extensions and left for free.

”But sometimes too when players from nowhere join a team, they are sometimes treated badly and when is time for extension the players also consider how he was received or treated to decides his future.

”So its better for Hearts of Oak to check how they treat players especially those from nowhere.”

Aside the big guns in Ghana football, another club that has suffered a lot from these circumstances in this decade is Aduana Stars.

The Dormaa Ahenkro based side made headlines after becoming the first club to win the Ghana Premier League in their debut season in 2010. Since then, they have gone on to win it again in 2017 with several household names in Ghana football in their squad.

A host of players in these title winning squads left the Ogya boys without the club getting a penny. The most painful thing is most of the players who left for free at some point in the club had offers turned down by Aduana Stars. Notable of them are Stephen Adams and Godfred Saka. Others include Derrick Sassraku, Wahab Adams, and Zakaria Mumuni.

Currently, Aduana is in danger of losing striker Elvis Opoku and Caleb Amankwah, with both players reportedly left with 3 months in their contracts.

I have been and remain of the strong conviction that, Ghanaian clubs will take their rightful place among elite teams in continental and global football if the continuous bad leadership and mismanagement is halted.

By: Mohammed Bushran/ @Bushran233