By Ameenu Shardow
German coach Hans Dieter Schmidt has broken his left leg after falling down heavily in a hotel lobby in Ghana.
The 64-year-old is in the country to continue discussions over the settlement of the outstanding Fifa fines owed him by Kotoko for his wrongful dismissal in 2005.
Schmidt who also coached King Faisal was coming out of his hotel room to join up with his local representative Eric Asiedu for a lunch meeting with a friend when the accident happened.
He slipped and fell awkwardly to break his left leg – the same area he was operated on 23 years ago and will now require surgery to fix the problem.
“I arrived at the entrance of his hotel waiting to take him to a friend for launch so I was parked outside,†Asiedu narrated.
“Then I heard shouts from inside the hotel only to arrive to see Schmidt helpless on the floor.
“We rushed him to Nyaho clinic but we were referred to the 37 Military Hospital where scans revealed he has broken his leg.
“It was the same place he was operated on 23 years ago and I was very sad to see him so messed up.â€
“He must be operated on but he wants it done in Germany so we will arrange for him to leave by tomorrow (Wednesday) evening for the operation.â€
Schmidt was Asante Kotoko coach between 2004-2005 where he led the club to the finals of the maiden edition of the Caf Confederations Cup but lost out to bitter rivals Hearts of Oak over two legs.
He was blamed for the defeat leading to his dismissal, a decision which Fifa has eventually ruled as illegitimate and now Kotoko must cough up a combined amount of 99,000 Euros to the German.