Following the huge financial demands in running modern day football and the demand for capacity to meet the rising challenges, the MP for Obuasi West, Kwaku Kwarteng, has suggested to Top 4 finalist, AngloGold Ashanti F/C, to hunt for strategic partners to make the club more resourceful.
His call follows the recent challenges facing the Obuasi mines, which owns the club, urging fans to rally behind management to look for partners with the necessary competence to take over the club to ease the burden on the owners of the mines.
Mr Kwarteng was speaking at AshGold Supporters Union Congress at Obuasi ahead of the club’s final Top 4 match against Accra Hearts of Oak.
Already, AngloGold Ashanti, Ghana, has downsized its 6,000 workforce by almost half shutting down its old site to operate upstream which is less labour intensive.
“Football is business, so the earlier we look for the right individuals or groups to own and manage the club, the better,” the MP said.
Mr Kwarteng said almost all football clubs belonging to the various state-owned companies in the past, including AKOTEX, Ho Voradep, Ghapoha, Samatex, Neoplan Stars had all collapsed saying “it is a sign that ‘that is not the way to go.”
He said the collapse of some of these clubs were partly due to the lack of competent managers and tried and tested systems of generating funds for running clubs as a pure business venture.
The Obuasi West MP warned that the “same fate awaits AshGold FC, if we fail to find a competent strategic partner with verifiable track record and experience to run the club”.
He said: “An independent management group will ensure the team performs, increased performance means more income and more income means, more employment opportunities for supporters and people in the communities.
‘We should all make efforts to know AshantiGold F/C very well. We should know and understand the club, it is very important, as such knowledge will enable us to share our aspirations and also put us in good stead to make informed decisions based on the fundamental analysis of the team and our competitors.
‘This will also make us true ambassadors of the team to win more supporters for the interest of the Club,’ he told the over 2,000 support base at Obuasi.
The Senior Manager Sustainability, Obuasi Mine, Mr Aboagye Ohene Adu, urged the supporters to shun violence and help management to expand and sustain the club’s reputation and make it a leading brand
“Supporters have all the right to express themselves in different ways; but the issue is how we ensure that we work hand-in-hand with the technical bench, the playing body, management and other potential supporters so that we positively impact on the running and direction of the club,” he stressed.
The CEO of the club, Mr. Kudjoe Fianoo, said the supporters had a major role to play together with management and other stakeholders to grow and develop the team to make it the leading brand but cautioned that given what was happening on the Obuasi mine, “we should all prepare ourselves to even sacrifice more for the survival of the club”.
