Former Accra Hearts of Oak captain Yaw Amankwah Mireku has rejected Harry Zakour’s claim that every player in the club’s 2000 CAF Champions League-winning squad received a $100,000 bonus.
Zakour, a former chairman of the club, said in an interview with Sporty FM that each member of the historic squad was paid $100,000 after Accra Hearts of Oak won the competition.
Mireku, who captained the side, strongly disputed that account and said the players did not receive anything close to the amount claimed.
“It’s a stupid and senseless statement from Harry Zakour. There is no truth in what he said. We didn’t even receive one-tenth of that money after winning the CAF Champions League in 2000,” Mireku said in an interview with Connect 97.1FM.
The former captain added that the players had been promised $25,000 each, but said that payment remains outstanding.
“Even the $25,000 promised us has not been paid, not to talk of the $100,000 he is claiming.
“This will put unnecessary pressure on us because those willing to help you will even put a stop because you have been paid $100,000, which is not true. He should just come out and apologize,” he added.
Mireku’s comments directly contradict Zakour’s version of events surrounding the financial rewards for the squad that delivered the club’s major continental triumph in 2000.
Accra Hearts of Oak defeated Esperance 5-2 on aggregate in the final to win the CAF Champions League title. The victory remains the achievement at the centre of the disagreement between the former club chairman and the former captain over what the players were paid.
According to Mireku, the $25,000 promised to each player was never paid, meaning the squad did not receive the $100,000 bonus Zakour has described.
He also warned that the claim could create difficulties for former players who might otherwise receive assistance. Mireku said people prepared to help them could decide not to do so if they believed the players had already been paid $100,000.
He therefore called on Zakour to withdraw the claim and apologise, insisting that there was no truth in the former chairman’s statement.
The dispute centres on the financial arrangements made after Accra Hearts of Oak’s 2000 CAF Champions League victory over Esperance, with both former club figures offering sharply different accounts of the bonus received by the winning squad.
By Francis Hema
