Louis Agyemang, a former Hearts of Oak striker stated that players had to contribute money to pay for nicer hotel accommodations during their CAF Confederation Cup campaign in 2004 in a recent interview.
The Phobians earned a crucial 0-0 draw in Dakar to advance to the competition's group rounds on a 1-0 aggregate.
Former Phobian striker Louis Agyemang said that players were forced to contribute money to pay for a new hotel when they landed in the Senegalese capital.
Speaking to Dan Kwaku Yeboah TV the striker nicknamed "Ronaldo" said the first hotel they got was very bad.
“We [the players] had to contribute money to pay for a better hotel when we arrived in Senegal because we realised that the state of the hotel facility they gave us was very bad because it had mosquitoes and other unhygienic conditions which could have affected us. The leadership of the playing body including Amankwaa Mireku came to an agreement and resort that we make a contribution to pay for a better hotel and we did,”
Accra Hearts of Oak won the competition's first edition in 2004, when CAF established it as a merging of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup.
“I received GHS1,700 for my contribution to the success. I played all the matches. It was my brother who even went for the money because I had gone to South Africa by then. Some received GHS1,000 while others received GHS1,100 because they had to share the money according to the number of games played,” he added.