Kurt Okraku urges Berekum fans to respect referees' decisions

President of the Ghana Football Association, Kurt Okraku has urged soccer fans in Berekum to respect the decisions of match officials no matter how controversial they will appear.

Kurt Okraku is on a review tour of the first round of the football season in the Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East, and Upper West Regions to interact with clubs and also help address the canker of hooliganism.

Speaking to the fans of Berekum Arsenal and Berekum Chelsea, Kurt Okraku called on the fans to respect the decisions of match officials and not to take the laws into their own hands.

His call followed accusations of bad officiating by referees from the fans and some club executives, coupled with pockets of violent conduct in some parts of the Division One League Zone 1.

“Just as we make mistakes in all our endeavors, referees also make mistakes. They are human. Let’s accept it as part of the game and report them approximately where necessary,” he told the fans.

“Most of the fans here do not know the laws of the game which keeps changing every year so we always have to be patient with the referees."

“Of course there are extremely bad calls from some of them which are sometimes worrying but under no circumstance must we beat referees,” he pleaded.

“The referee's complaint form is always available and so in cases that their calls are extremely controversial, let’s report them."

“Already, 15 referees have been banned, some for the rest of the season because other clubs reported them. So let’s not report them if we disagree with their decisions and they will be punished but not to physically attack them,” he urged.

Kurt had previously held similar meetings with Unity FC in Ahafo Kenyase as well as all the four Division One League clubs in Sunyani, B. A United, Bofoakwa Tano, Young Apostles, and Nsoatreman FC.

Already, some clubs in Zone 1 – Nsoatreman, Mighty Royals, Nkoranza Warriors, and Techiman City are suffering home bans for attacking/attempting to attack referees which the president insists is not the right option.

The interactive review of the GFA continues to Techiman, Nkoranza, and Kintampo on Wednesday before stretching up north to Tamale to wrap up.