Ghana FA Exco. member Afriyie wants hooligans punished

By Patrick Akoto

Ghana FA Executive member George Afriyie wants the association to get tough and punish clubs and supporters who bring the game into disrepute.

Ghana football has been embroiled in serious crowd trouble in the past five days after Kotoko and Berekum Arsenal fans engaged in acts of hooliganism during a league match at the Baba Yara stadium and Golden City Park respectively.

The incident which took place in Kumasi and Berekum were shocking with fears the country could return to the dark days of football hooliganism which claimed 126 lives in Africa’s worst stadium disaster during a League match between arch-rivals Kotoko and Hearts on May 9, 2001. 

The high-profile outbreak of violence especially by the irate Kotoko  fans has ruined the reputation of Ghana’s biggest club.

The behaviour of Arsenal supporters at the Golden City Park is well-documented in the Ghanaian top-flight with calls for a long-term ban of the venue.

The Ghana Under-20 chief wants the FA to get tough with offenders of the barbaric acts.

“What is happening is unfortunate and I think football fans have not learnt any serious lessons,” Afriyie said

“The solution is not  deploying soldiers at the venue. If you take 20 soldiers to a venue which has 20 or 40 thousands fans in attendance and trouble break up, what can they do?

“For me it’s got to do with the orientation of the supporters. They (fans) need to understand that we cannot promote our game with such behaviours.

“We all saw what happened to Ebusua Dwarfs and RTU.

“I am not sure the fans of these two clubs will engage in crowd trouble again.

“However I don’t think the FA has deliberately delayed in hearing the matter. The Kotoko game was played on Wednesday and then the Arsenal incident happened on Sunday.

“If the referees’ reports are ready, the disciplinary committee will look into the matter and come out with any sanctions necessary."

Dwarfs were handed an eight-match home ban after irate fans attacked referee Patrick Kyeremanteng during a League match against Aduana Stars in March last year.