It's said that time heals all pains but the indelible pain the May 9th disaster inflicted on us as a country might perpetually live with us till the
It’s said that time heals all pains but the indelible pain the May 9th disaster inflicted on us as a country might perpetually live with us till the end of time. It was one cold Wednesday night after a league match between the two most illustrious clubs in Ghana Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko haven served us with one of their longest rivalries of a football game where the victors were engulfed in merry whereas the vanquished were eclipsed by disappointment and pain.
It was little after this irony of situations we got struck by the news that an incident which has infamously etched itself into the history of both the nation and the football books had occurred taking a cast of supporters or fans by the two clubs. Consequently, the whole country got plunged into misery and awe, wailing over the loss of lives at the stadium due to the incident. This was a reaction that one would say went bad as it were as police officials on the day were attempting to stop some supporters who were misbehaving for not being happy with the results and the performance of the referees after the match on the day.
Fast forward in 2021, the Ghana football association and the entire nation will be marking twenty years anniversary of what has come to life with us as the May 9th disaster. As expected a ceremony will be held to reminisce the 127 fans of Hearts and Kotoko who perished on that black Wednesday, May 9th 2001. However, in the last two decades, the questions, discussions which ultimately have become the cliché of the day have been about the lessons we have gleaned from that disaster to work towards not encountering such an incident in our game of football again.
Sadly, however, it would appear the questions, discussions and the education about the lessons have amounted to nothing as our football continues to envisage the very acts that threw our football and the nation into that misery.
In the last twenty years, fans still go to the stadium to misbehave, peel off chairs, attack officiating officials pelt them with objects and foment all kinds of troubles at match venues which have become a recipe to encountering the disaster we witnessed at the Accra sports stadium. Last year a fan lost one of his eyes in a match involving Kotoko and Berekum Chelsea, this season we have encountered situations such as the beating of referees at Wamanafo, another at the Ndoum park when Sharks played Medeama, the attack on Dwarfs coach, threats and so forth.
It is on this basis we as a country particularly the football association ought to come out with an alternative and innovative ways to check fans behaviour at various match centres. I acknowledge the few interventions within the FA’s codes and conduct book yet those, apparently have not sufficed to fight the violent nature of certain supporters. These fans seem to have developed a dead goat syndrome to the fines and bans of the football association and this is why it has become imperative for them to resort to rather new strategies in fighting hooliganism and crowd violence at stadiums to make our game glow.
The crow always builds a house with its mouth when it rains but it quickly forgets when the rains stop. I’m saying this to mean that we cannot pay lip service to the problem by expecting it to go by itself just as it came. We cannot be oblivious to the debilitating effects of stadium violence and hooliganism which is why we have to take deliberate and aggressive actions to stamp out these acts completely from our game. Furthermore, the FA will have to as a matter of importance expand their consultative processes and hold frequent stakeholder engagements. Through this, I have no doubt the FA wouldn’t come out with compelling suggestions and recommendations which will go a long way to achieving the target we all seek for the significant growth of our football.
It’s without a doubt that the football association is working assiduously to give the game a facelift for the betterment of our football with their numerous corporate engagements. However, development is not a one-dimensional process rather multi-dimensional. Therefore the football association can get into a number of partnerships with corporate bodies, but if they play the ostrich to crowd violence at our stadia, that will be counterproductive and no development will be achieved as they envision.
Police officials deployed to match centres umpteenth times have appeared in the narration for reneging on their duties expected of them. This, a lot have said is what perhaps has emboldened hooligans and those who come to game centres to foment troubles. In a few weeks passed, the public has been left confused over whether or not it is part of the police’s duties to effect arrest when a supporter is seen misbehaving at a stadia following an interview by the President of the FA saying ‘’he is not the IGP’’ to the misbehaviour of fans at match venues and the reaction from the police service saying arrest is not part of their duties within the precinct of the game. Whichever way, we cannot gloss over acts that are a threat to security, safety and the game as well. If legislation is needed to regulate the acts of fans at our stadia, the FA must liaise with the police service to raise such a law.
Meanwhile, the radio sports department of GBC’s Uniiq 95.7 fm has launched an initiative dubbed Football Lives Matter, Say No To Hooliganism And Crowd Violence on social media aimed at fighting against hooliganism and crowd violence at our stadia add your voice by sending 20 seconds audio or video recording of yourself condemning hooliganism to our social media platforms @uniiqfm and the number 0243419405.
The current and the upcoming generation will be super excited. Similarly, the victims of May 9th watching us from the balcony of paradise will be extremely happy about the step.
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Source:Ghana/Herosportgh.com/Nana Yaw Bimpeh/Twitter @nanayawbimpeh1
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