The Communications Director for the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Goodfellow Offei, has reacted to reports that his outfit has decided not to renew its sponsorship agreement with Hearts of Oak.
The NLA signed a one-year sponsorship deal with both Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak worth Gh 1m last year.
However, there have been reports that the NLA has decided to ditch Hearts of Oak and renew that of Asante Kotoko when both contracts expire.
According to Goodfellow, no decision has been made on the renewal of the contract for the two clubs when it expires. Speaking in an interview on Wamputu Sports on Happy FM, he said,
“No decision has been made on our sponsorship agreement with Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko. Its exactly a year we signed a partnership between the two clubs that is Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko. It was a Ghc1 million sponsorship deal. We signed Heartsof Oak’s contract in November and Asante Kotoko’s own was signed in October.
“Kotoko’s partnership will end in October and Hearts of Oak will end in November. There are reports that we have ended our partnership with Hearts of Oak. The sponsorship signed was for one year and if there is the possibility of any renewal its has to be decided by the Board. Its not an automatic renewal. If the entity still wants to work with them they (clubs) have to write to us and then we take it to the Board”.
He added that Asante Kotoko has written to his entity for a renewal of the sponsorship and also disclosed other clubs that have formally requested for sponsorship.
“Before the season had ended Asante Kotoko had written to us to express renewal but Hearts of Oak hadn’t done so. The management doesn’t even have the power to approve sponsorships except with the Board.
“So others clubs such as Tamale City, Real Tamale United, Nsoatreman have also written to us for sponsorships.