Elmina Sharks players ejection saga – the story behind the story?

On Friday, August 14, 2020, premier league Elmina Sharks issued a statement to debunk reports that their players had been ejected out of the the club’s rented club house over unpaid rent arrears. The club also announced, that it had reached an agreement with the owner of the facility that they will not be renewing the rent any longer, and that reports of ejection over unpaid rent fees are empty.

To find out more about what might be lurking behind the unpleasant development, ghanasportspage.com dug further and have now gathered some interesting details.

In reality, football activities are not in session currently due to the covid-19 pandemic, and as a result, all Elmina Sharks players who are occupants of the said apartment have left for their respective homes, with their belongings still kept there since the team is on break. As confirmed by Elmina Sharks in their statement published on Friday, the club has been renting the facility since 2016, renewable every two years.

The facility, being occupied by Elmina Sharks players who are from outside Elmina, comprise of 18 master bedrooms with a porch each, 6 big halls, 6 dinning rooms and 6 kitchens at a cost of GH₵3500 per month, totaling up to GH₵42000 per year.

According Benya FM, an Elmina based radio station, the club and the owner of the said facility initially agreed that Sharks will pay for the first two years (2016-2018), then renew for the next two years in 2018. However, the club failed to renew the contract and remained in the facility for eight (8) more months. After the eight months, the club then went to the owner with amount covering six months out of the 8 months they’d spent after the expiration of the first two years, leaving two months in arrears.

Elmina Sharks promised to honour the rest of the payments and the landlord exercised magnanimity due to his special relationship with the club, and also judging from the fact that he is a fan of the club and more importantly, a native of Elmina. However, Elmina Sharks could not make any more payments and the players still remained in the apartment for nine (9) more months in addition to the last two months arrears, making eleven (11) months of debt. During this period, all attempts by the facility owner to reach the club for his money fell on rocks as the management of the club, according to Benya FM, refused to answer his calls.

Tired of the situation, the facility owner channeled his message through a close relative to the Nduom family (owner of the club), demanding for the keys to the facility since he’d had another company ready to rent the facility. Sharks Management to then agreed to handover the keys to the owner on Sunday, August 16, 2020

As it stands, ghanasportspage.com understands the management of Elmina Sharks, on Thursday, August 13, 2020, went to convey most of the players’ belongings from the rented club house and moved them to the club’s own temporal facility, and will go for the rest later on before handing the keys over to the facility owner.

According to Benya FM, Elmina sharks still owes 11 months of rent fee to the facility owner, whose name has been spared of mentioning here for some reasons. As stated earlier, the apartment according to reports gathered by the Elmina based radio station, costs Elmina Sharks GH₵3500 per month, and therefore 11 months by the monthly figure means the club still owes in excess of GH₵38500.