By
Emmanuel Kwame Donkor, GNA
Accra, July 17, GNA – Mr Evans Oppong, Public
Relations of Aduana Stars has debunked reports that, the club had reached an
agreement with Coach Kenichi Yatsuhashi, before terminating its contract with
departed coach Yussif Abubarkar.
The Dormaa based club terminated their
contract with Yussif Abubarkar on Tuesday, July 10 and announced coach Keninchi
as the next coach on Wednesday morning, with pictures of coach Kenichi meeting
his new team in Dormaa.
This gave rise to suspicion that, Aduana had
already secured the services of the coach before sacking coach Abubakar.
Mr Oppong, speaking in an interview with GNA
Sports, said the club’s administrative staff, had to work around the clock,
just to make sure they had a new manager in less than 24 hours, because of the
team’s Confederation of African Football (CAF) Confederations Cup group stage
fixture on Wednesday, July 18, against AS Vita Club.
He revealed that, Aduana contacted four
coaches including Kenichi, for the vacant role on Tuesday evening, but the club
managed to reach an agreement with Kenichi, because he showed interest and
understood the urgency of the deal, so did not hesitate to reach an agreement
with Aduana Stars.
According to Mr. Oppong, former Hearts of Oak
coach Frank Nutal, Romanian Cioba Aristika and a local coach currently under
contract with another club in Ghana, were all contacted for the job within a
limited period, but they had to settle on the Japanese American who was readily
available and flexible with his terms.
“We contacted these coaches through their
emails and WhatsApp platforms, with job offers on Tuesday night, around 21:00
GMT, right after we had terminated the contract with Yussif Abubarkar.
“Coach Kenichi responded to our offer and
admitted he was interested in the job, so having our CAF Confederation Cup
match against AS Vita on Wednesday, in mind, we did not hesitate to reach an
agreement with him,” he disclosed.
Mr Oppong noted that, coach Kenichi Yatsuhashi
left Accra around 2:00 GMT to make the trip to Dormaa in the Brong-Ahafo region
on Wednesday and met his new squad later in the morning, before they quickly
started working towards their next game.
The 2017 Ghana Premier League Champs would
come up against Congolese side AS Vita club in ttheir third match of the CAF
Confederations Cup group stages fixture on Wednesday, July 18, at the Nana
Agyeman Badu II Stadium in Dormaa.
The game which kicks off of at 13:00 GMT, will
be the first game of new coach, Kenichi Yatsuhashi, as manager of Aduana Stars.
GNA