Alhaji Akambi is a management member for Hearts of Oak
Hearts of Oak’s management member, Alhaji Akambi, has revealed a surprising detail, claiming that Asante Kotoko never intended to boycott their matches but instead requested more time to train after a lengthy break.
Following the stabbing of Francis Frimpong, popularly known as Pooley, during Asante Kotoko’s game against Nsoatreman on February 2, 2025, both Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak sought to pressure the Ghana Football Association (GFA) into implementing reforms in the Ghana Premier League.
As part of this effort, the two clubs initially indicated an intention to boycott official matches.
However, on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, Kotoko released a statement reaffirming their decision not to honor official games, despite resuming training.
Meanwhile, Hearts of Oak’s decision to play their FA Cup match against Golden Kick over the weekend sparked outrage among fans, who believed the club had abandoned Kotoko in their supposed joint boycott.
In response to the backlash, Akambi disclosed that Kotoko had never firmly committed to boycotting official matches, contrary to their public stance.
He argued that Hearts of Oak did nothing wrong by agreeing to participate in the FA Cup, emphasizing that Kotoko only refrained from playing because they needed additional training time.
“Both Hearts and Kotoko met with the GFA again. What I know is that we had a Zoom meeting with all the clubs, and the General Secretary of the FA made it very clear that this weekend’s FA Cup matches would proceed—except for Kotoko, because they had not trained since the violent clashes. They informed the GFA that they would start training today (Wednesday, February 19) and requested a postponement of their FA Cup match,” he said.
Akambi further revealed that Asante Kotoko made no formal objections to honoring the game, stating that all qualified teams had agreed to participate.
“During the meeting, there were no complaints from Kotoko about refusing to play, and the FA Cup will proceed this weekend as planned since none of the participating clubs have opted out,” he added.
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