Board chairman and majority shareholder of Hearts of Oak Togbe Afede XIV deserves to be commended for the Sunon Asogli Power sponsorship deal that is fetching the club some 200 000 US Dollars in 12 months.
Two-hundred Thousand US Dollars is not the same as 200 000 Ghana Cedis and this cash injection would definitely improve the financial position of the Continental Club Masters.
It is true that the respected and dignified businessman has received lot of sticks for the club’s inability to win silverware in the past decade or more but this effort to pump $200K into the club is a major win.
It should be noted that even under the $5.25million GFA – StarTimes broadcasting deal which is for a period of 5 years – no football club will receive anything around $200 000 per season. There is none. The highest amount that each Premier League club could receive for a season is $170 000 that is even in the 5th year of the contract when the Premier League is allocated $850 000 according to the disbursement formula of the GFA.
Medeama landed a similar deal , though with a higher amount, with Goldfields Ghana in October last year worth $300 000 per season and Togbe Afede XIV has followed suit for Hearts of Oak by bringing on board his Thermal power partners.
However, at the end of the day, it is how efficient these resources are used and decisions taken that will determined whether the football club would claim the success to match this cash injection.