Sports
Football’s pitch brutality
Steadily but speedily, a damnable spate of violence is brutally cutting through the nation’s domestic football leagues.
For a few days now, the Ghana Premier League (GPL) and the Division One League (DOL), have witnessed some despicable scenes on the pitch, which do not auger well for the good of the game, at all.
The Football Association (FA), though, has rightly acted swiftly – splashing home bans on the offending clubs – but they could do more by identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators.
So, it came to pass that on Sunday, February 7, supporters of Nsoatreman FC attacked players and officials of RTU after their Zone 1 Division One league tie played at the Twumasi Sports Complex at Nsuatre in the Bono East Region.
The victims sustained various degree of injuries.
Credible sources say, fans of the home team were apparently dissatisfied with the referee’s performance, deciding to vent their spleen on the poor, defenceless players and officials of the away team – RTU, who drew 1-1.
Upshot of that ugly incident is that, the FA has for now banned the Twumasi Sports Complex indefinitely.
Another Division One League side, Wassaman FC, have had their home base ‘locked’ indefinitely for holding the referee hostage, following the abrupt end of their Zone 2 match against Star Madrid FC, last week at the Ejisu Okese Park in the Western Region.
Again, this week, the PRO of King Faisal – one Awal Mohammed, attempted to physically attack Referee Maxwell Owusu, in the first half of their Premiership encounter against Medeama SC, allegedly accusing him of denying them (Faisal) an ‘obvious’ penalty. Play was reportedly held up for several minutes as security men tried fiercely to subdue the unyielding ‘Hercules’ in Awal. Faisal won 1-0.
Whilst the FA must be accorded some honour of salute for their courage to address the incident of violence on our pitches head-on, methinks they can do more.
We are aware that the FA has their video cameramen at all the venues who may have captured these sordidly brutal and embarrassingly unacceptable scenes.
Thus, it would not be out of place if the hoodlums are identified in the various videos, arrested and handed over to the police for prosecution.
If we sit unconcerned and allow these miscreants to go scot-free, they would come back and haunt us again; maybe this time, with a more tempestuous force.
Indeed, that is the only way we can be seen to be fighting hooliganism and all such despicable behaviours at our various stadia.
If the referee is deemed to have erred on the pitch, you do not take the law into your own hands and deliver instant justice. It does not help the game! It is barbaric!
That is not to suggest that referees should not be disciplined when they churn out a bad performance. No! The FA is already at that lash, cracking the whip with suspensions and bans here and there.
Let our fans help make the game incident-free as we all work in diligence to rebuild Ghana football and duly bring back the love.
PlainTalk with JOHN VIGAH
Sports
GoldStars GPL feat no fluke
No prophet in Ghana would have been taken serious with prophesies of Bibiani GoldStars becoming the new champions of the 2024/25 Ghana Premier League (GPL).
That is not to take anything away from Coach Frimpong Manso, an Asante Kotoko legend, and his boys for the yeoman’s job they did in the just ended season.
They deserve every bit of the plaudits coming from well-wishers.
They came, they saw and conquered on their fourth year (2021/2022 season) in the elite stage of Ghana football.
Of course, this can only be a reality in the end but not a sound prediction at the start of the season.
But, so has it been. Stories like that of GoldStars sharply brings to mind a similar fairytale orchestrated in the advanced English Premier League (GPL) with the 2015/16 edition.
In the face of the Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool dominance, Leicester emerged with a bang, conquering every hurdle in sight with unsung heroes like Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi, Shinji Okazaki, Leonardo Ulloa, Danny Drinkwater, Robert Huth, Riyad Mahrez and others.
There was no indication of that sort at the start of the season.
As usual, the focus was on the aforementioned heavyweights but Leicester took the competition by storm to record a historic win.
Back home, the GoldStars story is not different. Despite the recent struggles by perennial favourites, Accra Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko, the two have always found their ways in fans prediction regarding the side to emerge winners.
Interestingly, both sides just managed to end up in the top four after Nations FC’s decision to abandon a game against Basake Holy Stars who cost them dearly, in the end, forfeiting the said game and going ahead to suffer a further three points deduction penalty.
Nations FC were actually the top favourites for the title until that ill-fated match against Basake Holy Stars.
Campaigning for the second year in the competition, very few followers of the game gave the Timber giants any chance.
But in the same ‘Rambo’ style, teams like Medeama SC and Aduana Stars descended on the GPL, GoldStars emerged with all guns blazing, strategically employing a tactic of making the Dun’s Park in Bibiani, a waterloo for visiting teams.
On a few occasions, they sprung surprises on the journey, recording a few upsets against gullible teams including Hearts of Oak in Accra.
They had a promising coach like Frimpong Manso who is yet to establish himself among the elites local coaches maybe because he is yet to work with any of the established club sides in the country.
But winning the local competition with a less endowed club makes you a legend, and truly, he has become one.
To management and other members of the technical team, one could only congratulate them for a job well executed.
The players have a huge role to play in proving that the feat was no fluke and that GoldStars has come to stay; and would continue to make an impact in the local game.
Much is not known about these players except Vincent Atinga who plied his trade with Hearts of Oak and Medeama SC. Others like Samuel Attah Kumi, Frank Amankwah, Kelvin Oppong, Charles Gyamfi Kamara, Abdul Farouk Amoaful, Gideon Anaba, Samuel Acheampong, Foster Agyei and Yakubu Haqq remain emerging talents aiming to carve a niche for themselves.
Definitely with the new challenge, some areas of the team would be strengthened as they face the finest sides on the continent.
Another season with a new champion should also serve as a wake-up call for the likes of Hearts or Oak and Asante Kotoko to quickly return to their glory days lest they lose their enviable place among the football elite clubs. Well-done GoldStars.
By Andrew Nortey
Sports
Golden Kick, a tricky obstacle for Kotoko in MTN FA Cup final tomorrow
The University of Ghana Stadium will come alive tomorrow when Ghanaian giants, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, take on lower tier side, Golden Kicks FC, in a thrilling climax to the 2024/25 MTN FA Cup final tomorrow at exactly 5pm.
The much anticipated game, which is more than just a battle for silverware but a meeting of tradition and ambition for both teams, is expected to draw thousands of football fanatics across the country to the Legon stadium for what promises to be a dramatic and tricky finale to this season’s domestic cup competition.
After an unsuccessful season in the Ghana Premier League which saw the Reds miss out on the title to Bibiani GoldStars, the Porcupine Warriors will be desperate to finish the season on a high by clinching the title to secure a place in the next CAF interclub competition.
The Reds have a rich history in the FA Cup competition having won it nine times and will be eyeing their 10th title to stamp their authority as the overall best.
Before reaching this stage, Asante Kotoko eliminated formidable opponents like True Democracy, Sekondi Eleven Wise and Berekum Chelsea in the semi-final.
The availability of players like Justice Blay, Kwame Opoku, Frederick Asare, Peter Amidu Acquah and striker Albert Amoah, among other notable players will be a big boost to Coach Karim Zito’s side.
Meanwhile, the task will not be an easy one for Kotoko looking at the way their opponents reached the final with wins over Accra Hearts of Oak and Bechem United before climaxing it with Attram d’ Visser.
Coached by young and tactical Fiifi Parker Hanson, Golden Kicks have a combined youthful team with tactical discipline to punch well above their weight and relish the opportunity to shock the giants once more on a bigger stage.
This final is more than just a contest between Premier League royalty and a hungry underdog but rather a tale of two contrasting football identities. Kotoko brings the weight of tradition, experience, legacy and pressure while Golden Kicks arrive with nothing to lose and everything to prove which makes the game a promised one, full of thrills and fireworks.
By Enoch Ntiamoah
