Former Asante Kotoko CEO, Opoku Nti, has described his tenure as head of the club's management as a sacrificial job.
"Sacrificial job [was what] I did for Kotoko, and I did a lot," he recalled in a Prime Take interview with JoySports Muftawu Nabila Abdulai that will air on Friday at 7:30 am, Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 11 am on JoyNews.
"You see, I took over from... even though I didn't know it was going to happen, I took over from Dr KK Sarpong.
"I was part of his management. I was a special advisor to him, so when he resigned, Kotoko was about to get stuck because we needed to wait until a new appointment was made. So Otumfuo Osei Tutu II... I salute you, Nana.
"He called me and said I should steer the affairs until they put together the structures, which are the board and the management."
Mr Nti served as interim CEO for three months, during which he held one-on-one meetings with Otumfuo Osei Tutu II until a board was constituted.
However, his role remained undefined, and he found himself pre-financing the club's activities.
"I did it for three months, I had meetings with him [Otumfuo] one-on-one and everything, until a board was constituted.
"The board was given to me [and] my job description up to now is a question mark," he said.
He explained that, "What I knew was that the board was supposed to pre-finance the club but I was doing that myself though I thought it was the duty of the board.
The Porcupines legend clarifed that, "It was not my money, but I looked for money to finance the club, so it wasn't easy because football is about time and money."
Asante Kotoko has history of managers often alleging that they are owed money from running the daily affairs of the club, but Opoku Nti used an approach that would ensure he leaves the club debt-free.
"Wherever I got money from to finance the activities of the club, I made sure that we took it back. I also made sure that the money was used for its intended purpose so that no one could say we took the money and have not paid players for two months or three months.
"It never happened under my tenure because I knew for sure that if management pays salaries and winning bonuses on time, it gives the players a good frame of mind to also do their job.
"All these were fantastic. It was going well."
Under the leadership of Opoku Nti, Asante Kotoko won the Ghana Premier League title and the FA Cup in 2014. He attributed the success to stable management and a technical team.
"Immediately I took over they wanted to sack the coach [Didi Dramani] but I said no we need to maintain the coach because he has taken them through training for a while and he knows the boys.
"So it went well right from the beginning because we were having a stable management and the technical side wasn't a problem," he said.
Prime Take airs every Friday at 7:30 am, Saturday at 7:30 pm, and Sunday at 11 am on JoyNews.
Latest Stories
-
EPA says lead-based paints are dangerous to health, calls for safer alternatives
40 minutes -
Queenmother calls on President-elect Mahama to appoint more women in his government
3 hours -
Atletico Madrid beat Barcelona to go top of La Liga
3 hours -
Usyk breaks Fury’s heart with points win in rematch
3 hours -
Ghana-Russia Centre to run Russian language courses in Ghana
9 hours -
The Hidden Costs of Hunger: How food insecurity undermines mental and physical health in the U.S.
9 hours -
18plus4NDC marks 3rd anniversary with victory celebration in Accra
12 hours -
CREMA workshop highlights collaborative efforts to sustain Akata Lagoon
12 hours -
2024/25 Ghana League: Heart of Lions remain top with win over Basake Holy Stars
13 hours -
Black Queens: Nora Hauptle shares cryptic WAFCON preparation message amid future uncertainty
13 hours -
Re-declaration of parliamentary results affront to our democracy – Joyce Bawah
13 hours -
GPL 2024/25: Vision FC score late to deny Young Apostles third home win
14 hours -
Enhancing community initiatives for coastal resilience: Insights from Keta Lagoon Complex Ramsar Site Workshop
14 hours -
Family Health University College earns a Presidential Charter
14 hours -
GPL 2024/25: Bibiani GoldStars beat Nsoatreman to keep title race alive
14 hours