Former Hearts of Oak players Yaw Amankwah Mireku and Dan Quaye have rejected claims by the club’s former Chief Executive Officer, Harry Zakour, that each member of the 2000 CAF Champions League-winning squad received $100,000.
Zakour, popularly known as the Millennium Chairman, told Accra-based Sporty FM on Wednesday that Hearts of Oak received $3 million after winning the continental title and shared a substantial portion of the money with the players.
He claimed each of the 18 players in the squad was paid $100,000, describing the amount as significant at the time.
“It’s not true [that the players were not compensated for winning the trophy]. You can even invite Ato Ahwoi to that. We gave them $100,000 each,” Zakour said.
However, Mireku and Quaye, who were both part of the historic squad, have disputed his account.
Mireku said he never received the $100,000 claimed by Zakour and insisted that the amount he received was far lower.
“It is a lie. None of the players was awarded $100,000 for winning the CAF African Champions League. It is foolishness for Harry Zakour to lie that I was given $100,000 after winning the CAF African Champions League; I only received $180,” Mireku said.
“I am even ready to challenge Harry Zakour in court to prove me wrong and where they paid that money,” he added.
Quaye also denied receiving the amount, saying he remembered being paid only $2,000.
“It is never true that we were paid that amount. They should stop lying. Sometimes Ghanaian politicians and big men like to lie, and it is unfair,” Quaye said.
“I was never given the said amount. If I recall, I only received $2,000 and not $100,000.”
Hearts of Oak defeated Tunisia’s Espereance in the 2000 final to win their first CAF Champions League title and become the first Ghanaian club to lift the competition in its modern format.
The Accra-based side went on to defeat Zamalek in the 2001 CAF Super Cup, completing a memorable continental double.
The Phobians added another major African trophy in 2005 when they won the CAF Confederation Cup.
