Stoned Nduom threatens to terminate Division One sponsorship

Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, the businessman whose company GN Bank sponsors the Ghana Division One League, had the shock of his life when football fans shelled stones at him at a football game over the weekend.

The leader of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) had gone to the stadium his company built for the people of Elmina to honour the game between Sharks and Dwarfs, and it took the swift intervention of the police to spare his life.

He took to his vibrant Facebook page to vent his anger and has admonished the Ghana FA to purge the beautiful game of any violence else he will reconsider his decision to pump money into the unattractive lower league.

“Why would a healthy competition turn this way? The GFA must discipline the league and the participants. Otherwise, why would anyone want to sponsor a team to play in the First Division League and why should I encourage GN Bank to continue to sponsor the league?” Dr Nduom stated.

Below are his frustrations after the game as articulated on his Facebook wall:

Football Match - Sharks Versus Dwarfs - we deserve better than this!

Just came back from a football match and unfortunately, stone throwing, insults and intimidation marred the beauty of it.

It started before the match began. I greeted Sharks fans and walked over to greet Dwarfs fans. Dwarfs' fans greeted me with boos, insults and threw stones at me in the Stadium our Groupe Nduom company built in Elmina. During the match these fans broke through the perimeter fence and had to be chased away by the police. Some of them did the usual, tried to turn this into an NDC versus PPP affair. Why would a healthy competition turn this way? The GFA must discipline the league and the participants. Otherwise, why would anyone want to sponsor a team to play in the First Division League and why should I encourage GN Bank to continue to sponsor the league?

The match ended in a draw. But for the stones and chairs thrown and bad behavior, this would have been a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon of good football played by two good teams. Thousands of people from and Elmina and Cape Coast deserve better than this.