B.K. Edusei Foundation launched; To support old Kotoko players

The family of the late Benjamin Kyem Edusei, a legendary football administrator and a lifetime patron of Asante Kotoko Football Club, has launched a foundation as part of efforts to immortalise the memory and legacies of the football icon.

Known as the B.K. Edusei Foundation, the initiative is targeted at supporting retired players of Kotoko, particularly the surviving players who won the club’s first CAF Champions Cup in 1971.

Mr Edusei, affectionately called ‘B.K’ by the football fraternity, is credited for having masterminded Kotoko’s successes on the African continent in the 1970s during his reign as an administrator of the club.

The foundation was officially launched by the deputy head of the Kontire Division of Asanteman, Nana Akyena Kwagyan Nuama V, at a ceremony in Accra last Wednesday.

Among the dignitaries who graced the occasion were the chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Mr Freddy Blay; a former chairman of the National Media Commission and onetime board member of Kotoko, Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere, and a patron of Kotoko, Mr Assad Mallah.

Also present at the ceremony held at the Alisa Hotel at North Ridge were a number of former players of Kotoko and Black Stars legends, including Kofi Pare, Osei Kofi and Malik Jabir, as well as some former and current management members of the club.

Patriotic citizen

Launching the initiative, Nana Nuama V described B.K. Edusei as a patriotic citizen who was willing to sacrifice his personal gains for the development of sports, particularly football, in the country.

Mr Edusei, he explained, invested a considerable amount of his personal fortune in the development of sports, a move that contributed to the attractiveness of sports at the time.

“He made Kotoko the continental football powerhouse. The objective of this foundation is to continue with his philanthropic works by supporting the welfare of retired footballers,” Nana Nuama V said.

B.K. Edusei

The late B.K. Edusei was one of the strongest pillars in the history of Kotoko.

He was noted for his immeasurable philanthropic works, particularly in the welfare of players and the progress of Kotoko.

He was the first chairman of the Board of Directors of Kotoko and remained so for a very long time till the late Asantehene, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, conferred on him the title of life patron.

Sustainable livelihood

The daughter of B.K. Edusei, Maame Yaa Edusei, who initiated the formation of the foundation, said the organisation would focus on providing the beneficiaries with sustainable means of livelihood.

She said the foundation’s Board of Trustees would meet and decide which package it would give to the deserving players with respect to their individual needs.

“Most of these old players are not in the best of shape, with one of them even suffering from blindness, so we think it is best to support them. We don’t want them to die before we celebrate them,” she said.

She added that the foundation would not focus on only the 1971 African Cup winners but also cover other retired players, including those who did not play for Kotoko.