After a year and 8 months, Fabulous Asante Kotoko finally returned to the Baba Yara Sports Stadium and played their first match yesterday against Bechem Utd. Kotoko won by 2-0, relying on late goals from skipper Ismael Abdul-Ganiyu to clinch all three points, topping the table with 6 points.
Ghanasportspage.com monitored activities for the day and gives you a compilation of events in Kumasi before, during, and after the match.
The first but not so shocking incident was the queues that formed at the gates of Baba Yara Sports Stadium in the early hours of yesterday. In scenes compared to the ’80s and ’90s where supporters queued for tickets, lots of supporters were at the gates from 7.00 am when gates had not been opened.
The crowds grew thicker as churches closed until the gates were opened after 11.00 am. Only ten thousand tickets were printed due to the Covid-19 protocols but a few people were seen returning home as they could not fathom how to get tickets in such a crowd.
Large crowds also formed inside the stadium before the match with friends and supporters meeting after a long time as sellers of paraphernalia, food, water, and other items also enjoyed a good day. All this was in addition to the previous day’s program which saw Kotoko players and leaders at Asafo Goil Fuel Station and Santasi Goil Fuel Station taking part in the activation, mingled with fans, taking over the pumps in selling fuel to customers, etc. Starlife also had a gathering at Suame Post Office where the staff of Starlife explained what they do to patronizers, with a crowd piling to catch a glimpse of the Kotoko players.
Security was very tight at Baba Yara on Sunday with the military and police as well as supporting staff from NSA making sure security prevailed, no incidents worthy of discussions happened.
Bechem United were the first to enter the Baba Yara Sports Stadium around 12.35 pm to the surprise of all as the teams were expected after 1.30 pm. They could however not enter the dressing room as they failed to hang their jerseys at the dressing room before arriving. That was the arrangement as TV right holders Startimes needed to film that before the teams arrived. Whilst waiting, the Kotoko team arrived and we’re ushered into the dressing rooms. Bechem followed later and all was set for the match.
Then came one of the exciting scenes for the day. The Asante Kotoko team made up of coaches and players were officially introduced to the fans in their beautiful errea kits, to the loud cheers of the fans. They were introduced one after the other and each player or coach had a loud cheer but that of Fabio Gama was the loudest especially from the Amakom end of the Stadium. It was a scene to behold as the fans had the opportunity to meet the players and coaches.
Activations by Kotoko sponsors Starlife and Goil as well as the Covid-19 team from the Ministry of Health who were giving the vaccine to fans all helped to make the stadium lively.
Retired players of Asante Kotoko led by Malik Jabir also had two presentations coming their way from Kotoko sponsors, with CEO Nana Yaw Amponsah and an ambassador from Hisense Nana McBronwn presenting the cheques to old players, some of whom were also at the VIP, with Opoku Nti being a notable face.
The game itself was a beautiful one with both sides fighting all out. What may have helped Kotoko was the crowd, with the Porcupine Tertiary wing of Kotoko fans providing music throughout the match. Indeed one could feel the presence of music and chants throughout the match even when the going got tough.
In the minutes leading to the match, every move of Kotoko was greeted with chants in a union which at a point seemed to wear the Bechem players down. The support from fans seems to be the most topical issue as they never gave up. Even after the match, the ritual of regrouping at the VIP car park to ding and make merry was this time extra beautiful as even older people joined in the celebration.
But the National Sports Authority should not be left out as the stadium seem to have been well prepared, and indeed it was. Seats were clean, rubbish bins were provided, stewards were available while the media also had it easy entering the stadium and doing their work.
