Abdul Hayye Yartey: Ghana’s star in sports administration

In sports enclave, Abdul Hayye Yartey, Cheetah FC Bankroller, seems set for sports administration stardom as reported by a Ghanaian journalist, Dickson Boadi

Football Administration just like any other sector requires a myriad of skill set very few people can match. Mr Abdul Hayye Yartey, Bankroller of Cheetah FC, who doubles as the Ghana Bodybuilding Association is one of the few men who have ticked the boxes in football administration.

Mr Yartey’s journey to football administration.

He attended Datus Complex Junior High School. After completing his Basic Education, he went to Ghana Secondary Technical School in Takoradi (GSTS). From GSTS, Yartey went to the then Accra Polytechnic now Accra Technical University.

Yartey was once a player for Datus complex school football team and when he got to the Ghana Secondary Technical school he joined the football team and at the same time he was introduced to athletes.

Yartey combined the two sporting activities together.

In the year 1998 his final year at GSTS he was elected as the sports perfect for GSTS.

He was competing in the 4×400m relay, 800 meters, 1,500 metres,5,000 meters and cross country for the school.

He was selected into the regional team to represent the Western Region in the inter schools competition.

His exposure to sports in high school developed his interest of forming an Under-12 team so venturing into football administration as a Building Technology student – a student that had nothing but knowledge and passion for the game of football.

Mr. Abdul Hayye Yartey believes that a perfect marriage of his hardwork – rolling up his sleeves and getting his hands dirty – and the grace of the Almighty Allah that has landed him in his current position of esteem.

“There were alot of young kids in our area who used to play football” I decided to assemble them because of my sports prefect background in GSTS – assembling the school team i.e. athletics, volleyball and football teams.

He decided to set in motion his grand plan of nurturing talents by putting these young boys together. His fingerlings used to wear his white shirts, singlets and decided to christen the team “THE BOYS”.

As the team grew in stature, Mr Abdul Hayye Yartey opted to get in touch with one of the prominent members of his neighborhood in the person of Alhaji Boateng.

Alhaji Boateng was into Metal works and he supported him financially to help the young chaps to get football jerseys, balls, cones and other basic football equipment.

The financial muscle and clouts of the benevolent Alhaji Boateng birthed a formidable upgrade of the under 12 with two new age categories (under 15 and 17) which was named Peace Boys – participated in the Greater Accra Colts League.

The rising of ownership issues entangled with a myriad of others saw Abdul Yartey turning his back on his brain child to concentrate on his studies.

The size and workload of Peace Boys invited more hands which saw Abdallah Bonsu and another football enthusiast involved in the running of club.

The old adage of too many cook spoiling the broth proved not to be a fallacy as the four-man team failed to settle on ownership issues bedevilling the club.

A breakaway saw Abdallah Bonsu forming his own club after the ownership saga. He called on the young Yartey to bring his expertise on board to run the newly-created club.

The name of the club was Fauzan FC. Yartey eventually became the team manager of Fauzan FC.

The versatile Abdul Hayye Yartey combined the role of secretary, administration, welfare works together for Fauzan FC.

His versatility saw him combine education at Accra Polytechnic and running a football club in Kasoa, a suburb in Cape Coast close to the nation’s capital battling with the poor nature of the roads anytime he commuted.

His great love for the game saw him exchange his comfort with trident of stress – physical, mental and financial – in order to run Fauzan FC.

Although education took him away from his first love – football – Abdul Hayye Yartey was so engrossed in football to the extent that his conversations always had an element of football, which led him to scouting.

He was introduced into a scouting course in Birmingham, London and after the scouting course he returned to Ghana.

Coincidentally, his younger brother, Ishmael Yartey was called into the national U-17 team.

His return to Ghana saw him play the role of an advisor to Ishmael Yartey and his playing mates like Ransford Osei, Daniel Opare and Saddick Adams who was later signed by LaLiga side Atletico Madrid.

Abdul Yartey’s supervisory and advisory role saw him searching for greener pastures for his younger brother which saw Ramp Management coming into the picture.

Ramp Management were impressed with Yartey’s display at the FIFA U17 World Cup staged in South Korea and naturally wanted to represent the left-footed attacker, who was subtly managed by his elder brother – Abdul Hayye Yartey.

The agency were overwhelmed by the in-depth knowledge of football demonstrated by Abdul Hayye Yartey which saw him joining Ramp Management, receiving his firs gig as a football scout.

His first assignment was to bring on board three players from the Black Starlets team as Yartey used his close relationship with the stardust names in the mould of Ransford Osei, Ishmael Yartey and Daniel Opare onto their Agency.

His role at Ramp Management was elevated to the role of chief scout in West Africa and Ghana.

As the chief scout in both Ghana and the sub-region of West Africa, Hayye Yartey was tasked to raise a team for AFCON 2008 hosted in Yartey’s homeland, Ghana.

Notable among the team was Sporting Director for Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon, Paolo Cardoso.

He actually scouted from the Milo game – divided into two Northern and Southern sectors.

The Northern sector was headed by Sunyani whiles the Southern sector was in Koforidua.

He scouted 18 boys, who were pitched against the then Feyenoord Academy at Feteh, where Rank management and their scouts were stationed.

They discovered three of his boys namely Alhassan Wakaso, Evans Ofosu Antwi who was later invited to the National U- 17 team in 2009, Aaron Amoah, he was with Tudu Mighty Jets.

The trio and Christian Atsu from Feyenoord were to go for trials at the esteemed Sporting Lisbon in Portugal.

Feyenoord refused to grant Atsu the permission to go on trials and that was where Atsu came into the limelight.

Evans and Aaron were invited to the Black Starlets – National U-17 team – by the late Coach E. K. Afrane so they also couldn’t honour the invitations so the only player that honoured the invitation was Alhassan Wakaso who got injured and had to come back home for treatment.

He was prepared for trials in Portugal with Portimonense, who later signed him.

……….continues in part two