Chief Executive Officer of Asante Kotoko, Nana Yaw Amponsah
The Chief Executive Officer of Asante Kotoko, Nana Yaw Amponsah says every match venue should have a monument that serves as a reminder to all football fans about the May 9 Disaster.
Speaking to Joy Sports, the astute football administrator urged the National Sports Authority (NSA) and the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to design signposts, citing the monument at the Accra Sports Stadium as an example which will remind people not to misbehave.
“When it comes to May 9 [aside] the commemoration, this monument [at the Accra Sports Stadium] should be put at every league venue, at every league centre to remind us. There should be something like a signpost to remind us that if you go in and misbehave, what happened 22 years ago can repeat itself. I think that should go a long way to help us because we are not acting as if we have learnt from it. That is the unfortunate part. I think that should go a long way to help us because we are not acting as if we have learnt from it. That is the unfortunate part”.
Tuesday, May 9. 2023 marked exactly 22 years when two arch rivals, Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko faced off at the Accra Sports Stadium for a Ghana Premier League in 2001.
Despite Kotoko taking the lead through Lawrence Adjei, Heats fought back to score two late goals, courtesy of a brace from Ismael Addo to emerge victors but the unfortunate happened when angry fans of Kotoko threw plastic chairs and bottles on the field after the final whistle.
The situation forced the police to fire tear gas into the crowd which saw 127 lives lost through a stampede.
Speaking on hooliganism and if Ghanaians have learnt their lessons from what occurred some 22 years ago, Nana reiterated that, “Hooliganism still continues unabated in our league. Recently, we saw what happened to Tamale City. It’s been happening at various venues. Each of the 22 years that have passed, we have witnessed hooliganism in our league [and] it means we have not learnt from that incident,”
LNS/KPE
