A hint on radio by Accra Hearts of Oak’s vice chairman Frank Nelson that an Indian business tycoon has plans to buy the club has generated a lot of discussions in football circles around the country. The main topic for discussion is whether Ghanaian football clubs especially the so called big traditional ones have the required structures that make them fit to be sold. Indeed, the million cedi question is who owns these traditional clubs that may give them the rights to put up the clubs for sale.

It can safely be said that when we talk about traditional clubs, the original eight that pioneered the national league in 1958 fall into that category. They are Accra Hearts of Oak, Accra Great Olympics, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Kumasi Cornerstone, Sekondi Eleven Wise, Sekondi Hasaacas, Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs and Cape Coast Venomous Vipers.

Unfortunately Accra Great Olympics, Kumasi Cornerstone and the two Cape Coast clubs have lost their top division status and out of the remaining four perhaps it is only Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak could be attractive enough to attract international bidding. Currently, Sekondi Eleven Wise are enjoying some sort of corporate sponsorship but I am sure if it comes to outright sale to a bidder the legal complications about the original ownership would be enormous

Once upon a time, some directors of Accra Hearts of Oak mooted a fine idea of registering the club as a limited liability company that could rub shoulders with the great ones in north Africa and Europe but legal complications continued to rear its ugly head and the issue kept hanging until the death of the chief protagonist of the idea, Nana Wereko Ampem II, who was described as President of Council of Patrons of Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club Limited.

May be now that international businessmen are showing interest in buying the club, the subject could be revisited to establish the owners of the club and pave the way real business to begin.

In the case of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, since it is generally accepted that the Asantehene is the undisputed owner of the club, any prospective buyer could walk straight to Manhyia and put his cards on the table. A cross section of football fans I talked to believe that the time is ripe for Ghana football to infuse private capital in club administration. Many die hard supporters of Kotoko and Hearts, the two clubs with the largest following in the country, contend that if moderate private businessmen like Alhaji Grunsah of King Faisal and Sly Tetteh of Liberty Professionals have succeeded in building such strong teams, then Kotoko and Hearts with their array of domestic and continental honours must by now be rubbing shoulders with at least Al Ahly of Egypt if not Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool.

It is unfortunate that the widely travelled Ghanaian football manager Herbert Mensah failed in his bid to take over Ashantigold. The young man who is full of big ideas had got a consortium from British Virgin Islands to manage the Obuasi club and he was going to be a pace setter for great things to happen to Ghana football.

I believe strongly that the time is ripe for Kotoko and Hearts to run the clubs like business outfits for the others to follow. The two clubs command the biggest following in the country and on paper are the richest. They are the only continental champions in Ghana and between them have won the 50 year- old national league 45 times.

What do you make of my suggestion to Kotoko and Hearts? I would like to hear from you. Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.