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01.09.2015 League Report

Setting the records straight: FA Cup titles: Kotoko stop deceiving yourselves, 8 not 9

By Allsports.com.gh
Setting the records straight: FA Cup titles: Kotoko stop deceiving yourselves, 8 not 9
01.09.2015 LISTEN

In the lead up to the FA Cup final between Kotoko and Medeama, asantekotoko.com which is their official mouthpiece published an article with the headline '1990 FA Cup, the stance of the GFA.'

This was in response to an article I published on Allsports.com.gh on the rundown of the FA Cup since 1958 and the FA Cup winners lists that the FA Cup committee consulted me to put together for them and was published on the GFA website on last week Friday. In these two pieces Hearts of Oak were credited the 1990 FA Cup title, instead of Kotoko.

On Sunday 5th August, 1990, Kumasi Asante Kotoko beat Accra Hearts of Oak 4-2. Kotoko's goals were scored by Isaac Kwakye, Joe Debrah 2 goals and Robert Eshun while Hearts of Oak's goals were scored by Yaw Preko and Ablade Kumah.

The following day, which was 6th August, 1990 Hearts of Oak lodged a protest with the GFA that Joe Debrah who played a key role in Kotoko's victory was unqualified because he had been booked 3 yellow cards in OGLCA Cup, League and F.A Cup.

The Disciplinary Committee, after sitting on the case declared Kotoko losers on 23rd October, 1990

As a result of this it makes Hearts of Oak the 1990 F.A Cup winners instead of Kotoko.

This brings the total haul of Asante Kotoko's titles in the FA Cup competition to 8 instead of 9 and 10 for Hearts instead of 9.

However, according to asantekotoko.com, although Kotoko were declared losers by the Disciplinary Committee, the club filed for an appeal and it was never heard by the Appeals Committee.

Contrary this in my painstaking findings as a Sports Researcher by going through all the national dailies at the time, Kotoko never filed an appeal on the matter, but they rather reacted through a press release on 26 October, 1990 questioning the grounds for being declared losers and described the GFA as not having the supreme interest of Ghana football at heart, because the verdict of the case was released few day to Kotoko's 2 league against JSK in the 1990 Africa Champions Cup.

Kotoko added that they filed an appeal on a final day league decider against Hearts of Oak, after they lost 2-1 to hand them (Hearts) the 1990 league title and Kotoko never heard anything from the GFA.

As result of that they were going to advise themselves in regard to releasing their players for national assignments.

Following this reaction, Kotoko never wrote to appeal or challenge the decision by the DC and Hearts of Oak on countless of occasions were called double champions for winning the league and FA Cup titles in 1990.

Even if Kotoko filed for an appeal and the Appeals Committee never sat on the case and they kept silent on that it means the club accepted the ruling. It should be recalled that at that time any decision by the FA was sent to Ghanaian Times and Daily Graphic for publication and they were the FA's official mouthpiece and this was enshrined in the GFA status.

 Kotoko should face the fact and stop deceiving themselves into thinking that because they won the game on the field they should by all means be the champions of the 1990 FA Cup. The asantekotoko.com's publication on last week Saturday even claim that since they won the FA Cup in 1990 and won the league in the 1990/91 season, they had a double for the very first time in 1990/91, forgetting that the FA Cup was played in the 1989/90 season and because Hearts won the league within that period they wouldn't have won a double if they had even not been stripped of the FA Cup title they won in 1990.

Kotoko also claim that because they didn't return the trophy, they can still hold on to the title. This is wrong due to the fact that we are in a country sometimes people take the laws into their own hands, so no one could have gotten the balls to instruct Kotoko to return the trophy, after having been presented the trophy on field. I think that would have brought a third World war.

Kotoko are not the only club to be stripped of a title in world football. Juventus were stripped of the 2004/05 and the 2005/06  Serie-A titles after the Calciopoli scandal in Italy, instead Inter Milan - the original runners-up were rather crowned champions for those seasons.

This is the 3rd time I have written a piece to that effect reminding all soccer pundits, the Ghana FA and football faithful to put things at the right perspective in that regard.

The first  time I wrote a piece on this controversial issue which had been overlooked for several years was August 7, 2012, after New Edubiase fc beat Ashgold to win the 34th edition of the FA Cup

Soccer pundits have revised their records to that effect and most online football records database and websites have updated their records too.

However, the news desk of the official mouth piece of Asante Kotoko in a brief match report on the 37th edition of the FA Cup final, which the Porcupine Warriors were handed a 2-1 defeat by Medeama on Sunday, put up a headline that "Kotoko denied 9th FA Cup", but to my surprise I visited the site again and I realised the headline has changed to "Kotoko denied 10th FA Cup title"

In the nutshell one can conclude that the custodians of Kotoko records are confused and after doing the right thing someone  instructed them to protect the interest of the club by perpetuating falsehood about the number of titles their idol club have won in the FA Cup, since 1958, behaving just like Juventus fans who always match to the Juventus Arena, whenever the club win a new title by adding the two titles they were stripped of during the Calciopoli anytime to make their titles two more than the official titles recognized by the Italian FA.

Attached to this article are the verdict of the Disciplinary Committee declaring Kotoko losers  of the 1990 FA Cup and the reaction of Kotoko, after the ruling to enable readers have access to the original decision to ascertain the truth of my argument.

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