Kotoko to face relegation?
Champions Kumasi Asante Kotoko may be doomed to the bottom rungs of the premiership campaign following revelations that they failed to submit any audited accounts to the GFA as mandated by the Rules and Regulations governing participation in the top-tier league by all clubs.
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According to the FA rules, every premiership club is to lodge its audited accounts with the FA before the commencement of each season, failure of which is punishable by deduction of points from the accumulated points of matches played by the offending club.
Kotoko, therefore, will be potential relegation candidates when the rule is upheld, since it is now public knowledge that they flouted Article 8 clause 2 of the GFA rules, a source close to the football controlling body has observed.
According to the said article: “All premier league clubs shall submit audited accounts and documents on incorporation of clubs as companies either limited by shares or guarantees to the Association. The audited accounts for the year preceding the just ended league season shall be submitted before the commencement of the new league season”.
But on item 16 of its 30-item statement of defence and counter-claims to a Kumasi High Court, Commercial Division, against the former chief executive of the club, Dr K.K. Sarpong, the management of Kotoko boldly and impliedly indicated that it had not submitted audited accounts year by year.
“The defendant (Kotoko) avers that to date the defendant’s external auditors have been unable to finalise and file the audited year by year accounts of the defendant for the period plaintiff was at post, substantially because plaintiff has failed or been unable to furnish the auditors with documentary proofs and explanations for the questionable discretions exercised by the plaintiff in particular, and his administration in general”.
This admission by the Kotoko management is a slap in the face of the FA regulations and tantamount to forfeiture of matches under Article 34 (h).
It says: “A team commits an offence punishable by forfeiture of a match where, among others, a premier league club fails to submit its audited accounts for the year preceding the just-ended league season before the commencement of the league season”.
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When asked why the FA had not taken any action against Kotoko all this while, the close source noted that often it would take some action or form of protest by another party for the FA’s attention to be drawn to it.
It will be recalled that Dr K.K. Sarpong recently sued Kotoko in the Kumasi High Court over failure by the club’s board of directors to pay monies owed him by the club when he was the chief executive.
But in a subsequent statement of defence by Asante Kotoko Sporting Club Limited, it emerged among other claims that Kotoko had to date been unable to submit its audited accounts.