Haruna Iddrisu: Money from Fatawu Issahaku’s transfer was used to buy Karela United

Karela United were in financial turmoil following the demise of bankroller Senator David Brigidi and risked bankruptcy.

However, Iddrisu successfully completed a takeover of the struggling club and relocated it from Aiyinase in the Western Region to Tamale in the Northern Region.

Discussing his takeover of Karela United, the lawmaker said he didn’t initially plan to buy the club because he didn’t have the funds.

However, he said, he ultimately decided to invest in the club following the sale of Issahaku to Sporting Lisbon for a fee upwards of €1 million.

Issahaku was on the books of Division One side Steadfast FC, a club also owned by Iddrisu, when he joined the Portuguese giants.

“It was more an accidental decision. It was not my wish. A very good friend of mine called and said, ‘Haruna, can you help? I want you to show interest in Karela.’ I told him I don’t have the money,” the politician explained on GPL Xpress on TV3.

“He said, ‘Haruna, do your best, try and save this team and save Karela for me.’ So, we went in and have become very excited about it.”

He added: “My dream now is to stabilize Karela in the Ghana Premier League, contribute to making it competitive, contribute to getting our players into various national teams and giving young people the opportunity, those who have football talent to realise their fullest potential and make a living or fortune out of it.

“It was desirably arisen out of the sale Fatawu Issahaku that we used it to do Karela and probably to run Steadfast along the line.”

Despite now being a legislator and a football administrator, Iddrisu stated that he did not want to mix football with politics.