A GNA Sports Feature By Kodjo Adams)
Accra, Dec. 25 GNA - Football hooliganism has seen a blight in recent
times and hardly would a game end without some skirmish from the
supporting clubs and their fanatical supporters or the stakeholders
getting involved in various acts violence.
In most cases, football matches do not end at the stipulated time due to
violence which normally erupt before, during and after the game by some
supposed 'faceless and passionate' supporter hooligans with the quest
for their clubs to win matches at all cost all the times.
The question to ask is whether lessons have been learnt from the past as
far as football violence is concerned. There is a saying that
'experience is the name we give to our mistakes', but do we learn from
our mistakes? It is high time drastic measures are put in place to
curtail this phenomenon. The euphoria and passion of the game is to
unite and entertain the sporting fraternity and not to injure, kill or
destroy.
The game of football since its inception seems to be characterized by
violent activities which mar the beauty of the game and discourages the
sporting public from attending the events. The football authorities and
the club officials complain of low patronage to the local league and yet
these ugly scenes continue to wreck the game. If this is not checked
the fear will continue to imbibe in people's mind that they are not safe
at the venues. The activities of hooligans at the various stadia have
led to the darkest day in the history of Ghana and Africa soccer, where
126 people died with several of the fans injured. The incident took
place during a stampede between the fans of Accra Hearts of Oak and
Kumasi Asante Kotoko in a Premier League match at the Ohene Djan sports
stadium, Accra on the 9th May, 2001.
There was another clash between the fans and the Police resulting in
severe injuries of the supporters when Hearts of Oak played against Real
Tamale United on the 15th January, 2009 Premier League match at the
Tamale stadium.
In the same year there was also another violence at the stadium when
Kotoko engaged St. Mirren football club where some aggrieved fans broke
the inner perimeter unto the pitch. Riots erupted after a league match
between Accra Hearts of Oak and Sekondi Eleven Wise where officials of
some of the teams were brutalized severely on the 17th March, 2009
league. Another ugly scene of football violence which claimed four lives
of fans during Premier League match occurred between Kotoko and Hearts
in 2009 at the Baba Yara sports stadium in Kumasi after Hearts won the
game 2-1. The stampede, according to the security agencies at the
stadium was as a result of suffocation where the Fire Service had to
come to the rescue of the fans by sprinkling water into the crowd.
Another latest development was the repulsive incident at the Ohene Djan
Stadium between Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko on the 13th
December, 2009 in their 9th Week league encounter. This time around the
riot was between the goal keeper of Asante Kotoko and the national
security personnel which took place after the end of the stipulated
ninety minutes The scuffle led to the arrest of some fans for allegedly
hurling a stone into the crowd on the pitch. The North Stand of the
Stadium, a noted place for the Hearts fans, also had their share of the
nasty scenes with fans of the two clubs engaged in physical exchanges.
But for the intervention of the Police and Security detail, it could have been a different story to be told.
These occurrences depict an explicit indication that there is more to
learn as far as violence at the various satdia is concern. It is high
time those football hooligans are made to know that they cannot take the
law into their own hands and that their actions can affect their teams
in terms of fines and bans.
Consequently besides being fined and banished from the teams home
grounds, teams ought to be tasked to help the law enforcement agencies
to bring to book trouble makers at the various stadia. The debate over
whether or not perimeter fences should be allowed at the arena of stadia
has raged on for some time with the world soccer governing body, FIFA,
insisting inner perimeters should be removed.
Observers, however, argue that the protective barriers are still very
much needed on the African continent. Football authorities, clubs and
the media must step up the war against hooliganism by getting the fans
to shun violence by punishing the hooligans severely.
The first recorded instances of football hooliganism in the modern game
took place in the 1880's in England. In 1885, after Preston North End
beat Aston Villa 5-0 in a friendly match, the two teams were pelted with
stones, sticks, punching, kicking and what have you. One Preston player
was beaten so severely that he lost consciousness.
Sir Norman's (2002) attributed drinking alcohol as one of the causes of
football hooliganism. He said "Males of all social classes are often
encouraged, for example, to celebrate special occasions with their male
friends by drinking to excess.
However to curb this menace, sports stakeholders have a role to play.
Sports presenters must try to be objective and be professional in
performing their task. The presenters must learn to put their club
affiliations aside any time they are to perform their duties. Just like
referees, presenters have clubs they support but professionalism should
be the keyword. Invited quest for sports discussion should be advised to
avoid using seditious words which can spark or incite fans to cause
violence at the stadiums and punitive measures should be reserved for
perpetrators of these mayhem.
The effects of football hooliganism have a dramatic reputation for the
country, hence it should not be given the chance to operate and blossom.
The Ghana Football Association and the government should intensify
public education on the need to avoid violence at the various stadia.
The use of Football Trust-funded Closed Circuit TV equipment (CCTV) by
the Police in and around grounds of all the stadiums can go a long way
in contributing to limit and curtailing the problems of violence by
hooligans while ensuring early and successful prosecution of offenders.
The (CCTV) will help monitor the activities of fans in and around the
stadium and arrest any hooligan and to bring sanity to the beautiful
game of football which has been the passion of many.
