Berekum Chelsea call for support

Ghana’s sole representatives at this year’s CAF Champions League, Berekum Chelsea, are rallying for national support to position the club in achieving their modest semi-final target as the money zone of the competition kick-starts on July 8.

The bankroller and owner of the Berekum club, Emmanuel Kyeremeh, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that with the kind of quality players and a possible beefing up of the squad to make each position more competitive, a national support, especially from corporate Ghana will be enough to aid the club to reaffirm Ghana football as a force on the continent.

Chelsea were grouped alongside three former champions - Al Ahaly, Zamalek (both of Egypt) and T. P. Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo - at last Tuesday’s draw, but the club remain optimistic of meeting their target despite the pedigree of the oppositions.

Giving an overview of the team’s stellar performance in the competition to become Ghana’s third club after Ashgold and Hearts of Oak to get to the league stage of the competition, Mr Kyeremeh believed the players’ achievement was self-motivated.

Not ruling out the technical astuteness of the club, headed by Dutchman, Han van der Pluym, as well financial support, the bankroller said “what did the trick was the players’ yearn to be part of history”.

“The team did not qualify because of winning bonuses, they were simply self-motivated, that was all,” the affable club owner told Daily Graphic at his office in Accra.

Even with the exposure given the players, Mr Kyeremeh said the team were not in a rush to have a mass-transfer of players but would rather wish to add value to them to make them better materials on the football market.