Journalists stranded as supporters flood Akonnor's first presser

“The year is 2020 and we had a JAMA musical interlude in the middle of a press briefing to announce the Black Stars squad. The more things change, the more they stay the same”, this tweet by Daily Graphic’s Kweku Zurek captures the emotions of journalists who attended CK Akonnor’s first press conference as Black Stars coach.

When Kurt Okraku and his executives assumed office, expectations were rife there was going to be a departure from the old ways where journalists were always treated with gross disrespect and disdain.

The belief was that post-Number 12 things were going to change and some of the negative happenings had been left in the past.

But at Akonnor’s maiden presser held on Tuesday, journalists were given a sharp reminder that despite the strides made by the current administration not a lot has changed particularly in how the association perceives the media.

Supporters hijacking press conferences and taking over seats designated for journalists is nothing new but under a man who still prides himself as a sports journalist, many would have thought events meant for journalists will only have journalists in attendance and not praise-singing supporters.

In a packed hall at the Accra City Hotel were not only journalists who were anxious to grill CK Akonnor on his first call but also uniformed supporters who from all indications were bused to the place by the organizers – GFA.

These supporters who numbered over fifty occupied all the seats on the rights side of the hall, forcing the journalists, Black Stars management and technical committee members to make do with just the left side which had less number of seats than the right.

The huge number of journalists meant that some had to stand throughout the close to two-hour programme. Some FA officials including Stephen Appiah struggled to gets seats and had to plead with journalists to vacate their seats for them.

Stop packing our press conferences with supporters union members. It's not a carnival.

— Michael Oti Adjei (@OtiAdjei) March 3, 2020

Yesterday, the supporters union chief was very upset that he was not allowed to ask a question at the press conference.

I can understand why. After all he and his members had taken up a quarter of the seats meant for journos so why not let him complete the participation.

— Michael Oti Adjei (@OtiAdjei) March 4, 2020