It’s been a long time since Lothar Matthäus last worked as a coach. Since his dismissal as Bulgaria’s national coach in September 2011, the FC Bayern legend has not coached a team. But now Germany’s record national soccer player has taken over a club where an ex-BVB star works as sports director.
“Club taken over” is to be understood literally in this case. Because Bayern idol Lothar Matthaus has been the official club owner for a few days. The 62-year-old joined Accra Lions FC in Ghana with two partners.
“I met Oliver König and Frank Acheampong through friends a year ago, who got me excited about the project. So much so that we decided to become partners here,” quotes “Bild” Matthäus in this context.
Bayern legend Matthäus meets ex-BVB star
Frank Acheampong is a 23-time Ghana international. The 29-year-old winger was active at RSC Anderlecht from 2013 to 2017. He has been playing for FC Shenzhen in China since 2021.
Meanwhile, König is a licensed players’ agent from Frankfurt, who, according to the report, has built up a network in the West African state over almost 30 years.
Since January, König has also been president of the Accra Lions, which were founded in 2015 and already have expertise from the Bundesliga. Ibrahim Tanko, who scored for Borussia Dortmund from 1994 to 2001, is sporting director at the Ghanaian first division club.
On Monday, Matthäus visited the club’s premises in Abokobi. “Of course it’s a business model,” revealed Germany’s record national player, who also has sporting ambitions: “Ghana has always had huge potential for talent, you can see that in the national team. We want to bring young players to Europe. In a serious way and already well trained. That’s why we’re also investing in the training ground here.”