Former Asante Kotoko star Rev. Osei Kofi has shared an intriguing revelation about the club's past, disclosing that a Malaysian team once offered to build a stadium in Kumasi for the Porcupine Warriors.

In an interview with Kafui Dey, Osei Kofi, who won the 1965 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with Ghana, explained that the Malaysian group had proposed constructing a stadium and naming it after their brand, akin to how Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium was funded and named.

According to Rev. Osei Kofi, key figures within the club at the time, including Opoku Nti and Kennedy Agyapong, lobbied to bring the deal to fruition.

However, the management of Asante Kotoko rejected the proposal.

He explained, “Emirates is a stadium for Arsenal; was it the residents who built it? No, it was the Emirates, that is why the stadium bears the name. Similar things happened in Ghana.

Opoku Nti and Kennedy brought in a Malaysian team that wanted to build a stadium for Kotoko and put their name on it, but they did not allow them.”

While Rev. Osei Kofi did not elaborate on the reasons for rejecting the proposal, his revelation points to a missed opportunity for the club, which could have greatly benefited from having a stadium built and named after a corporate sponsor.

Currently, Asante Kotoko plays its home matches at the state-owned Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi.