Kotoko must check revenue leakages at gates — Nana Yaw Owusu

A former management member of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Nana Yaw Owusu, has advised the management of the club to consider selling advance tickets, as well as plug all the loopholes in their ticket management system in order to maximise revenues when Kotoko play host to Coton Sport Garoua at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi on Sunday.

Kotoko take a 3-2 lead into the return leg clash of the CAF Confederation Cup playoff, with the winner qualifying for the group phase of the competition.

He said existing bottlenecks during the sale of tickets at the gates on match days and a lack of innovative ticket management system had created avenues for a lack of accountability as individuals have profited at the expense of Kotoko and denied the club projected revenues.

“The time has come for the management of Kotoko to sell advance tickets through popular radio stations in Kumasi and Accra, and also use the banks [as sales points] ahead of big matches to ensure that all tickets are well accounted for,” Nana Yaw Owusu advised during an interview with the Daily Graphic.

Despite a large turnout in their last Confederation Cup match against Kariobangi Sharks of Kenya last month, Kotoko bagged GH¢235,000 after all deductions, a figure that raised suspicion of possible ticket racketeering at the gates.

Nana Yaw Owusu, onetime vice chairman of the Ghana Football Association, said he noted that Kotoko’s splendid away performance against Coton Sport last Sunday must be a source of motivation for their fans to turn out at the Baba Yara Stadium on Sunday to rally behind the team to eliminate the Camerounians to advance to the group stage of CAF’s second tier club competition.

The former football administrator said it was imperative that Kotoko’s management find innovative ways of promoting Sunday’s match to guarantee a high turnout by fans, as well as put in place a mechanism to minimise revenue leakages and also ensure every ticket sold was accounted for.

“It is important for management to block any channel that could be used to siphon money from the club in order to ensure revenue maximisation.

And if tickets should be sold at the gates, it should be a few which could be well accounted for,” he advised.

“Kotoko is a lone ranger this year so far as Ghanaian clubs in Africa is concerned.

That is why we all need to provide the needed support in cash and kind for them to go far,” he added.