Asante Kotoko’s Executive Chairman Dr KK Sarpong is considering withdrawing from competitions.

Asante Kotoko are planning a withdrawal from all other competitions apart from the Premier League in protest of what they claim unfair treatment meted them by the Ghana Football Association.

A preliminary decision to pull out from the competitions including the FA Cup was taken at a management meeting held immediately after their 1-1 draw with Aduana Stars on Sunday.

The decision according to sources has been endorsed by club chairman Dr. K.K Sarpong and now pending approval from the board, MTNFootball.com is reliably informed.

The Ghanaian champions claim their chances of retaining the Premier League title are being frustrated by recent decisions by the Ghana FA.

Kotoko have been barred from using their home stadium in Kumasi following attacks by its supporters on the visiting Medeama team and match officials with four games to end the season.

They were thus forced to play their home game against Aduana in Sunyani where they drew 1-1 to cede their lead of the Premier League to Berekum Chelsea.

The club now feels they are being ‘cheated’ from winning the Ghanaian top flight for the second straight season after they were knocked off their perch on Sunday.

The club’s management have consequently decided to pull out of all Ghana FA sanctioned competitions with the exception of the Premier League, which they still hold a chance of winning.

This puts their MTN FA Cup semi final clash with Amidaus Professionals in great doubt.

They could also withdraw from the off-season Top Four competition and the President’s Cup organised by the Ghana League Clubs Association and endorsed by the Ghana FA.

The Porcupine Warriors become the third club within a week to issue threats of a pull out following ones made by Berekum Arsenals and Aduana Stars who have also suffered from recent directives from the Ghana FA.

Ghana fans

Ghana Football Association President Kwesi Nyantakyi will open the first-ever National Supporters Unions conference on Thursday in Accra.

The GFA President will be joined by Minister for Youth and Sports Elvis Afriyie Ankrah as the seminar brings the various supporter groups together to deliberate their role in contributing to the success of Ghana’s national teams.

The one-day forum, under the auspices of the GFA, will also examine the dangers of hooliganism during football matches and scrutinize the ways of clamping down on the menace in football.

Experts from various sectors of the football industry including marketing, psychology, media and an ex-international will address the supporters unions to help them to improve on their activities.

This is the first time in Africa that a local federation has called a seminar for supporters of football in the country.

The various supporters groups have been asked to contact the GFA to register for the conference which will be open to them for free.

Mahatma Otoo

Ghana have named 20 home-based players for this week’s three-nation tournament in Liberia with five players from giants Asante Kotoko in the squad.

The local Black Stars squad have been selected to resume camping on Monday for the international assignment against hosts Liberia and Guinea in Monrovia.

Three players including the league’s top scorer Mahatma Otoo have been invited from Hearts of Oak while Ashanti Gold and Berekum Chelsea have two players each in the squad.

The called up players into the local Black Stars team are expected to report at the Ghana Football Association headquarters in Accra by midday to be transported to the national camp in Prampram.

The team will be preparing for a three-nation competition in Liberia against the Lone Stars and Guinea from the 24-26 May.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Joseph Addo (Heart of Lions) Foli Adade (Dwarfs) and Stephen Adams (Aduana Stars)

Defenders: Godfred Saka (Aduana) Joshua Otoo and Tijani Joshua (Wa All Stars) Nuru Sulley (Hearts of Oak) Kwabena Edusei and Rashid Sumaila (Asante Kotoko)
Midfielders: Yahaya Mohammed (Amidaus), Moro Abubakar (Hearts of Oak) Owusu Jackson and Jordan Opoku (Berekum Chelsea) Latif Mohammed (AshantiGold) Richard Mpong, Michael Akuffu and Michael Helegbe (Asante Kotoko)

Attackers: Yakubu Mohammed (AshantiGold) Mahatma Otoo (Hearts of Oak) and Sulemana Mohammed (King Faisal)

Tema Youth lost 1-0 in Cape Coast to Ebusua Dwarfs.

Tema Youth’s quest for survival was dealt a blow as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat to Ebusua Dwarfs in the Ghana Premier League on Sunday in Cape Coast.

In-form midfielder Bright Lukman converted a penalty in the second half to help the Mysterious Club to their 13th victory of the season and keep their top four ambitions in sight.

For Youth they needed victory from the game to avoid joining already-relegated RTU and Berekum Arsenal but as it were, they fell to an impressive side at the Coastal city.

Youth trainer Edward Odoom left Ghana U20 kingpin Moses Odjer on his substitutes bench while striker Francis Narh started up front.

Professor Mintah named a strong side with Richard Gadze and Bright Lukman both in his line-up.

Dwarfs dominated possession and counted themselves unlucky when Lukman’s thunderbolt was palmed just away by Youth goalkeeper Kofi Mensah.

After the break, the home side were and the impact of Gadze and Lukman told.

Full-back Atinga laid a splitting cross to Gadze to traverse the Youth defence before being fouled inside the box.

Lukman stepped and hit a fierce drive to register the only goal of the game for Dwarfs to send them to 44 points.