Olympics assures supporters, confirms Afranie

The management of Accra Great Olympics has assured supporters of the 'Wonder Club' that they would do everything possible to turn the fortunes of the club around in the coming season.

Speaking to the GNA Sports on Friday, Mr Richard Oblitei Solomon, chairman of the management committee said the resolve of management to challenge for the league trophy next season informed their decision to hire former national team coach, Emmanuel Kwesi Afranie on a one year renewable contract.

He said coach Afranie was a senior coach, with a lot of experience, who had identified the problems of the team during the just ended L.G. Top 4 competition and has promised to file the blunt edges and make them super sharp during the league.

The chairman said the coach was very pleased with the offer and promised to use his marriage with Olympics to prove a point about his professional competence and terminate the phenomenal two-horse race, which had become synonymous with the premier league.

Mr Solomon said the coach assured them that the quality of players the club has is good enough to enable them "to be either the first or with the first" if discipline could be instilled in all aspects of the game and has pledged to spearhead the crusade.

He said in order to complement the efforts of the coach, management has decided to add a few potent front liners to the team to end the goal drought, which plagued the club in the L.G. tournament, adding that the team has renewed its romance with striker J.B. Danquah in that direction.

"We shall also rectify the errors at the back to reduce the number of goals the team concedes and it would involve the reorientation of all our goalkeepers and the use of combative ball players in the midfield."

The chairman implored supporters of the club to remain steadfast in their patronage as a new dawn of triumph and success was approaching in the history of Accra Great Olympics.

"I have no ill feelings against the supporters, not even against those who accosted me at the stadium. I expected a verbal assault but not a physical one and I must indeed give credit to the Ghana Police Service for the way they organised our security."

Mr Solomon believed the circumstances, which led to the confrontation between him and the supporters would not reoccur 'because there will no longer be any instance when we shall lose six matches on the trot' to incense our supporters to behave the way they did.

On the finances of the club, the chairman said his team primes transparency and accountability and would soon make the financial figures public when the audited account is ready.

Corroborating the claims of the chairman, Mr. Joe Boye Commodore, Finance Officer of Great Olympics said while the club netted about 300 million cedis last season, it expended over 883 million cedis.

Mr Robert Fletcher Dzoleto, a management member said the difference in the income and expenditure account was made up by contributions from members of the management committee and Mr Perry Doku, a director of the club.

In apparent reference to the section of supporters who called for the heads of management members during the L.G. Top 4 tournament, Mr Dzoleto said, 'Let whoever that is interested know that running Olympics is not a matter of life and death. It is service to the Olympics family.

While appealing to the supporters to rally behind the club by attending matches, the chairman said, 'we are not going to kill to stay at the helm of affairs. We love the club and all we want to do is to get it back on its feet and make it great again.

Also present at interview were Mr. Stephen Adjei Nmashie and Mr Emmanuel Nii Ankrah Ankrah, both members of the management committee.