Improve security arrangement at match venues

Dear Editor,

It is sad to hear that a football fan has lost his life at a match venue.

It has thrown the football fraternity into a state of mourning.

The incident which occurred on Sunday when Nsoatreman FC played Asante Kotoko in a Premier League game highlights the lack of proper security measures at the various match venues across the country at all levels of our football.

Over the years, there have been issues of violent attacks on match officials, sports journalists, and opposition supporters by fans of home teams.

However, most of these cases are not addressed by the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

When such incidents happen, the team that is involved often get banned from playing at their home grounds, while the supporters go unpunished.

This has not yielded the needed results as we continue to see violent acts at our stadiums.

In view of the recent incident, I recommend that appropriate security measures be put in place by the GFA to protect teams, match officials, and sports journalists. 

To begin with, I suggest that any team that travels to honour league matches should be provided with adequate security.

Also, certain venues in the Bono region, should be allocated a greater number of security personnel to ensure the safety of both home and travelling supporters.

The two most successful football clubs in the country, Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko, should also lead reforms of the league, as often seen in Europe and North Africa, where teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Al Ahly and Zamalek take the bold step in ensuring that decisions regarding the salaries of players, their welfare and security measures at match venues were not only taken for granted.

For that to happen, representatives of these two clubs at the Executive Committee of the GFA need to be vocal and stand firm with the decision they make.

Atom,

Accra