Two clubs – Great Olympics and Aduana Stars have filed protests against Hearts of Oak for fielding an unqualified player against them in the Ghana Premier League.
Great Olympics initiated the move after their 2-1 home defeat to the Phobians in the Mantse Derby on August 27. According to the relegation battlers, midfielder Leonard Tawiah featured in the game despite accumulating three yellow cards and hence are seeking the appropriate sanctions from the competition rules applied by the GFA Disciplinary Committee.
Olympics are demanding that the full points from the match be awarded them.
Also title chasers Aduana have filed a protest on similar grounds accusing Hearts of illegally fielding the combative Tawiah in their six-goal thriller which ended in a stalemate last week Wednesday.
But the spokesperson for Hearts, Opare Addo has hit back saying it is just some move by some people to create some uneasiness among the Phobian faithful in their charge for the league title.
Stating the club’s position, he said: “We all know the regulations stipulate that when a player accumulates three yellow cards, he has to miss the next official match.
“And the regulations define official matches to be in the league and FA Cup. Knowing what we were about, we made the player [Leonard Tawiah] sit out against Danbort FC, an FA Cup quarterfinal match. Unless, somebody wants to tell us the FA Cup is no longer an official match.”
In what looks like a counter action, the Phobians also have reportedly filed a protest against Aduana over the use of unapproved strip by their second goalkeeper Gordon Yeboah who came on in the second half for injured Stephen Adams.
Meanwhile, Olympics also have another pending protest against Hearts after detecting an administrative lapse. The Phobians reportedly failed to pay up a fine slapped on them within the stipulated days provided by the GFA Regulations. If Hearts is found culpable, it could attract deductions from their accumulated points.
Hearts of Oak currently sit third on the 2016/17 Ghana Premier League log on 44 points with four games remaining.
