Kotoko refuse pressmen entry

Most sports journalists who turned out in their numbers to report on the Kumasi Asante Kotoko-Sekondi Hasaacas premier league encounter at the Kumasi Sports Stadium at the weekend, were refused entry into the stadium.

The reporters were surprisingly turned back by officers from the National Sports Council (NSC), who were then managing the gate.

In explaining their stance, the NSC men said they had been given explicit instructions by the Kotoko management “not to allow in any pressman without accreditation from the club”. Attempts by some journalists to convince some club officials to allow them entry to also perform their duties yielded no results.

As if that was not enough humiliation, some reporters who had earlier managed to enter the press box were forcibly thrown out by some Kotoko executives claiming they had no accreditation for the match.

This is the second successive week that Kotoko executives have refused press houses access to cover a match at the Kumasi Sports Stadium. The first one was during the Kotoko-Okwawu tie, which the visitors won 1-0.