Nana Yaw Amponsah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Asante Kotoko, has provided clarification for the dismissal of coach Seydou Zerbo. The Burkina Faso coach was sacked in March this year after the team lost 2-0 at home to Medeama SC.
Nana Yaw, in an interview with Oyerepa FM in Kumasi, stated that the club’s management was satisfied with the Burkinabe’s performance and had no intentions of sacking him. However, due to intelligence the management received regarding some sections of the club’s fans’ plan to attack Zerbo, they were forced to let him go.
“We did not bow to just calls for him to go, no. I think as management we knew what the club was and what he was capable of but we picked up strong intelligence that some people had plotted or planned to go and attack him at the training ground, similar to what happened to matic at Hearts of Oak and that incident has happened to Kotoko before and we felt that such a thing happening will not be in the best interest of the club, especially with the image of the club”
Nana Yaw also mentioned that some board members told him to either dismiss the coach or resign from his position as CEO. He explained that the club did not bow to calls for Zerbo’s dismissal but decided to act in the best interest of the club’s image. He further stated that the management was not happy with Zerbo’s departure, and they believed that they still had a chance in the league with him.
“When we engaged him, he also said he had some conversations with his embassy here (Burkina Faso Embassy) and they have reiterated same so we felt that for us to allow some people to attack the coach at the training ground to defame the brand, if he’s falling out of love, we should just save ourselves that trouble.
“If you ask any management member, we were not happy with him going because we felt we still had the chance in the league with him and we felt that the time left, we can’t bring an outsider coach to come and make any massive impact if officiating continues the way it has been”
Nana Yaw disclosed that some supporters wanted Zerbo out, and during their game against Hearts of Oak in Accra, he had to intervene to prevent an attack on the coach. He added that the board called for Zerbo’s dismissal or his own.
“There were a majority of supporters who wanted him (Zerbo) out. I remember our game against Hearts of Oak in Accra, I had to step in else he would have been attacked, even some persons I know were part but it’s not necessary now. There was a point there were calls from the board and I say this on authority that they said either the coach goes or the CEO goes, this is on record”
Coach Zerbo joined the Porcupine Warriors in August 2022 following the departure of Prosper Narteh Ogum. He became the fourth coach under Chief Executive Officer Nana Yaw Amponsah’s leadership to depart the club.
Coach Zerbo joined Maxwell Konadu, Johnson Smith, and Prosper Narteh Ogum as the list of casualties at the Kumasi based club in the last three years.
