Brazilian midfielder Fabio Gama, family and two Asante Kotoko management members
Nana Yaw Amponsah said bringing Fabio Gama’s wife to Ghana was to make life comfortable for him
Fabio Gama was Asante Kotoko’s best player in the 2020/2021 Ghana Premier League season
The Brazilian was shortlisted for the GPL Player of the Year for 2021
The Chief Executive Officer of Asante Kotoko, Nana Yaw Amponsah, has revealed the reason behind their decision to bring Fabio Gama’s wife and child to Ghana.
The Brazilian midfielder Fabio Gama Dos Santos joined giants Asante Kotoko on a two-year contract before the start of the 2020/2021 Ghana Premier League season.
Fabio Gama came to Ghana together with his wife and son weeks after signing the two-year contract with Asante Kotoko, and according to Nana Yaw Amponsah, they took that decision to make him comfortable.
“We also had to dig deep into Fabio Gama; of course, it was a huge risk. One of the things we had to do for Fabio Gama to succeed was to bring his family with him. He had to come with his wife and his child.”
“That meant extra cost that could have put us off, but we felt that for him to settle, and also not to have destructions, it was important that we did that for him, and it paid off.”
“So, in terms of the commercialization in every decision we take in Asante Kotoko, you cannot take it out. Every step is well calculated, we don’t always get it right, but because we are very meticulous and very considerate of these factors, most at times, we get it right.”
“This is a player with a big history. He played for Brazil U-17, U-20, couldn’t make it to the very top as expected. He was playing in Europe, Sweden had never come to Africa, you know you need to dig to find out whether he will adapt, his adaptation.”
“And if you remember, when Fabio Gama came in, there was a lot of pressure on us to play him. Because some said he was a carpenter, some said we had brought in a farmer.”
“But we had to be patient to give him at least one month of preparation, despite the pressure to ensure that he had trained properly, he had adjusted to the weather, and then he was ready before we unleashed him. And you realized that when we unleashed him, it paid off,” Nana Yaw Amponsah said at the ASC’s Ghana Premier League Webinar with the Johan Cruyff Institute.
Fabio Gama was shortlisted for the Ghana Premier League player of the year award but lost the ultimate to Salifu Ibrahim of Accra Hearts of Oak.
Also, watch last week’s episode of the Friday debate on GhanaWeb TV with Joel Eshun in the post below: