Coach Addo to sue Hearts

Accra, June 15, GNA - Coach Herbert Addo, former technical director of Accra Hearts of Oak football club is set to drag the club to court over the formers' indebtedness to him. Information reaching the GNA Sports said solicitors of the coach are ready to file a suit against the former league champions by the close of this week.

Coach Addo who was axed by the Phobians earlier in the year, was supposed to have received over 100 million cedis from the club during his two-year stay as the helmsman.

The amount was accrued following the club's failure to pay the coach some winning bonuses, salaries and other incentives. The information indicated also that the club was supposed to pay the coach over a 100 million cedis whilst he was at post however, both parties agreed on 80 million cedis after they had parted ways in March this year.

The sources explained that Hearts, however, failed to honour their part of the agreement and only issued a cheque of 31,700 million cedis in April this year.

The said cheque was said to have bounced when it was presented at the bank and to which the coach's solicitors three weeks ago issued an ultimatum to the club to rectify the issue.

Hearts are however yet to respond to the request of the solicitors, a situation that has influenced the current move to drag the club to the court.

Several efforts made by the GNA Sports to get the side of the story from the Board and Management members of Hearts failed. It would be recalled that Hearts sacked the coach about four months ago citing the team's output in the Coca-Cola Top 4 competition as well as the general overview of the club's performance over the past two years as their reasons.

Coach Herbert Addo was hired in February 2002 from Kpando Heart of Lions on a year's renewable contract.

He won the league on his first attempt to annex a record-breaking sixth consecutive league title win for the Phobians as one of his credits.

But the Coach started having some difficult moments when the club's archrivals, Kumasi Asante Kotoko ended the championship run of the Phobians by winning the 2004 league.

To aggravate the coach's already precarious situation he failed to place the team within the first two spots in the 2004 Coca Cola Top Four (4) competition, which in effect ruled the Phobians out of a sequel to a competition in South Africa originally billed for August.

Coach Addo is however, best remembered for emerging as the only unbeaten coach in the last premiership having led the team to record 13 draws and 17 wins.

On the continental scene, the coach who once took Obuasi Goldfields FC to the finals of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions league, rather failed to push Hearts to the lucrative league stage of the tournament on all two of their attempts. 15 June 04