An illustrious long-time disciple of Asante Kotoko, Dr Kofi Effah, says the appointment of Nana Yaw Amponsah as Chief Executive of the club, is a chance for the younger generation to showcase their capability at the top level.
The 37-year-old versatile football administrator was outdoored at the Sports Hotel in Kumasi on Friday, August 7, amid fanfare.
He is the youngest CEO in the history of the ‘Fabulous’ club – some of his predecessors almost double his age.
According to Dr Effah, who is a gynaecologist and Head of the Cervical Cancer Prevention and Training Centre at the Catholic Hospital, Battor, in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region, Nana Amponsah has a huge opportunity to change the status quo.
“This may be a great opportunity to let the world know that one does not need to be close to the mandatory retirement age to successfully head a big institution in Ghana.
“Indeed, Kotoko is the biggest club in Ghana and Nana Amponsah could be empowering many young Ghanaians and Africans without being aware. I hope that he realises that his success goes beyond Kotoko and football in Ghana,” he asserted.
The health-care practitioner says if the new Kotoko CEO succeeds, “our younger ones may become confident that ability (not just age) is important in such choices.”
Whilst wishing Nana Amponsah success in his challenging endeavour, Dr Effah wondered whether a 37-year-old would ever be appointed CEO of the biggest health institution in Ghana.
“If the answer is no, why not,?” he quizzed.
He said the nation’s system must be able to produce 37-year-olds experienced enough to be CEO at the highest level.
Meanwhile, the newly-appointed Kotoko boss has vowed to register one million supporters before his three-year mandate expires.
He said it was his target to have the right data of supporters to generate money for Kotoko.
Shortly after being unveiled, Nana Amponsah remarked that: “If we have one million supporters of Kotoko donating $1 each and we have one million Manchester United supporters donating $1 each, how much is each club going to have, $1m. It is all about data collection.”
Nana Amponsah, who contested in the 2019 Ghana Football Association (GFA) elections and placed third out of six candidates, holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and Political Science from the University of Ghana, Legon, and a Master’s Degree in Sports Law and Practice from the Leicester DE Monort University, UK.
From 2008 to 2018, he was a Licensed Player Agent/Intermediary and was said to have transferred over 50 players from Ghana and almost 100 across the globe, which brought huge revenues to Ghanaian clubs in the process.
Until he was outdoored, Nana Amponsah was the Chairman and founder of Ghana Division One Club Phar Rangers FC since 2016.
The Prestigious 40 Under 40 awardee is also founder and CEO of Cornny Drinks Limited.
BY JOHN VIGAH
