Violent crime does not get punished in Ghana football; it seems. Within the period I reported actively on local football, spanning almost 20 years, I did not see stories showing that a football hooligan has been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted.
It is not as if in that two decades, there was no case of hooliganism. There were. Even including the tragedy at the Accra Sports Stadium that killed 127 fans after a Hearts of Oak-Asante Kotoko game. No one was held accountable for that catastrophe. Police officers who were put before the court were all acquitted and discharged.
From Kpando to Accra, Kumasi to Obuasi, Berekum, Dormaa, Sunyani, Tamale and back to Cape Coast; Elmina, Sekondi-Takoradi to Tarkwa; I saw many cases of football violence in which there were no arrests before, during or after the game. When people were apprehended, they were released mostly after pleas from club officials or relatives.
Players, coaches, club admins, referees and innocent spectators continue to be brutalised. The more painful thing is the culprits are left off the hook. Hoodlums masquerading as fans have therefore been emboldened by police inaction. Dastard incidents of violence keep rising with the new trend of coaches attacking referees.
In a matter of days two referees, one at Kwaebibriem and the other, a lady in Tamale, have been beaten by coaches. No arrest was made neither in the first incident nor did the Ghana Football Association (GFA) issue a statement on the alleged assault. The club put out a pathetic apology. What has happened to the attacker?
On the Tamale incident, the GFA reports that the Police are on a hunt for the coach. I have little or no faith that he would be arrested and made to face the law because the worrying trend is that hooligans always get away with their crimes.
The GFA has been taking sporting actions to stem the tide. It has not worked. Fines and sanctions are not deterring because we are talking about acts that tarnish the reputation of the game if not undermining its integrity. The GFA’s laws on violence should be toughened as the police are reneging on their duty to ensure law and order.
Police have cited constraints in deploying adequate numbers at match venues, which may be a legitimate challenge but what about those who were picked up only to be freed after pleas? Anyway, football violence in Ghana is analysed, it is inexcusable that we have not potently dealt with it. Who is failing us?
Previously it was fans venting their spleen on referees but now it is coaches, those who should know better who are becoming dangerously irresponsible and reckless. We are failing ourselves either as football people or the police. Urgent actions are needed to contain the problem.
Pleas for arrested hooligans to be freed should be outrightly rejected while we make one or two hooligans’ scapegoats to deter would-be offenders. This will not cure the canker entirely but it would contribute to reducing it to the barest minimum. The earlier Police clamped down on football-related violence, the better it would be for us all.
Source: JeromeOtchere.com
