The Manhyia Palace, seat of the Asante Kingdom has reacted angrily to a statement attributed to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, that he will not change the current manage­ment of Kumasi Asante Kotoko FC headed by Sylvester Asare-Owusu. Some media reports last week indicated that the Asantehene, after meeting the two accredited liaison chiefs to the club, had de­clared that the current management would not be changed. The Asantehene delegated the Akyempimhene of Kumasi, Oheneba Aduse Poku and Hiahene, Oheneba Agyeman Atwereboanda to meet the Kotoko manage­ment about recent developments in the club, such as low patronage of supporters at matches, submission of audited accounts in a timely manner, reports of bad blood among management members and the fall-out of the adminis­trative enquiry report into the Kotoko-Hearts February 4 match at the Baba Yara Stadium that resulted in four deaths and a number of injuries. A section of the media reported that the Asantehene heard the two chiefs and gave the nod to the Sylvester Asare-Owusu led management. However, a release from the Palace, signed jointly by the two chiefs, has denied the publi­cation, stressing that "we are yet to report to His Majesty, the Asantehene." According to the release, "any insinuation that Otumfuo has made a categorical endorse­ment of the management is not true." The statement apologised to the Asantehene for any inconvenience the publication might have caused him, stressing "We deeply regret it". The issuing of the release has rein­forced information from reliable management sources that the Otumfuo Asantehene would soon crack the royal whip to bring sanity into the management of the Porcupine Warriors... Several names such as Herbert Mensah, Opoku Nti, a former player of the club and others had come up. It is the strong belief of many sports enthu­siasts in the Kumasi metropolis that the cur­rent management members would be changed but that rests with the Asantehene who is the life patron of the club.. Source: Ghanaian Times