The immediate past protocol officer of premier league club, Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, Joshua Acquah has sued the Club over alleged match-fixing claims.
Also joined in the writ filed on November 10, 2017, the High Court in Accra is a former Management member of the club, Aziz Haruna Futa, who one of the sources claimed by the claimant as originators of the defamatory information.
Mr. Acquah recently issued a statement confirming the suit as well as reasons behind the decision.
Read the statement below:
Recent Defamatory Reports about my Alleged Involvement in Betting, Match Fixing-
Joshua Acquah
After a sober reflection on recent events leading my resignation as protocol officer of Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, and subsequent defamatory accusations that I have been fixing the club’s matches and betting on its results for personal gain, I have decided to take legal action to clear my name and secure my peace of mind.
I, therefore, filed a writ today, the 10th of November 2017 at the High Court in Accra, against Accra Hearts of Oak SC Ltd and a former Management member of the club, Aziz Haruna Futa, who are the source and originators of the defamatory information about me.
It has been a difficult decision in view of my abiding love for Accra Hearts of Oak and commitment to unity in the Hearts family of which I remain a faithful member.
However, it is the only option recommended to me by my distraught family, my closest friends and professionals advisors.
I have been the target of hatred, curses, death threats and insults by Hearts fans some of whom have called for my execution by stoning. This hostility has been spread on all media platforms in Ghana and abroad since the Management of Hearts of Oak reported me to the police on accusations of fixing the club’s matches through bribery of referees.
I concede that Hearts was at the receiving end of some terrible officiating in a number of matches during the just-ended season. This, according to some commentators, lends credence to the accusations against me. I wish to emphasize that if the referees involved in those matches were influenced, it certainly was not by me.
I feel proud to have had the privilege to serve my beloved club in various capacities with unflagging and unalloyed dedication and loyalty for nearly two decades. I wish to state for emphasis that bar genuine cases of misjudgment, which is to be expected, at no time in my entire stay at Accra Hearts of Oak did I deliberately act against the best interest of the club. I, therefore, consider the recent decision by the Management of the club to make a scapegoat of me as a sad case of betrayal and monumental ingratitude.
These are my preliminary comments. At the appropriate time, I will call the press for a thorough briefing about my sensitive role in Accra Hearts of Oak and the chain of events that led to my recent resignation.
Joshua Acquah
Former Hearts Of Oak management member sues Club
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