By Issah Olegor
A fresh controversy has erupted over Hearts of Oak’s historic 2000 CAF Champions League triumph after two members of the victorious squad publicly disputed claims by former Chief Executive Officer Harry Zakour that every player was rewarded with $100,000 for winning the continental title.
Yaw Amankwah Mireku and Dan Quaye, who were part of the celebrated Hearts of Oak team, have rejected Zakour’s account, insisting that the financial rewards received by the players were nowhere near the figure he has cited disagreement follows comments made by Zakour, popularly known as the “Millennium Chairman,” during an interview with Accra-based Sporty FM on Wednesday. According to Zakour, Hearts of Oak received about $3 million after winning the CAF Champions League and used a substantial portion of the money to reward members of the playing squad.
Zakour specifically claimed that each of the 18 players in the squad received $100,000, describing the payment as a significant reward at the time.
“It’s not true [that the players were not compensated for winning the trophy]. You can even invite Ato Ahwoi to that. We gave them $100,000 each,” Zakour said.
However, Mireku, one of the key figures in the historic Hearts team, has strongly rejected the former club administrator’s version of events. He said he personally did not receive anything close to $100,000 and challenged Zakour to produce evidence supporting the claim.
“It is a lie. None of the players was awarded $100,000 for winning the CAF African Champions League,” Mireku said.
According to Mireku, the amount he received was dramatically lower than the figure being claimed by Zakour. He stated that he received only $180, and expressed such confidence in his account that he said he was prepared to take the matter to court if necessary.
“I am even ready to challenge Harry Zakour in court to prove me wrong and where they paid that money,” he added.
Quaye, another member of the historic squad, also disputed Zakour’s claim.
He said he could not remember receiving anything remotely close to $100,000 and recalled that his own payment was approximately $2,000.
“It is never true that we were paid that amount. They should stop lying. Sometimes Ghanaian politicians and big men like to lie, and it is unfair,” Quaye said.
“I was never given the said amount. If I recall, I only received $2,000 and not $100,000.”
