The 8-week old Normalization Committee (NC) Special Competition has been characterized by violence at certain match venues, some of which have led to fatal injuries of some club officials and fans Ampem Darko, former Security and Safety Coordinator of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has outlined measures the NC must take curbed the disturbing situation.
Venues like the Sunyani Coronation Park (Prisons Ladies vs Ampem Darkoa Ladies), Nana Agyemang Badu I Park ( Aduana Stars vs Medeams SC) and the most recent of the Berekum Golden City Park (Berekum Chelsea vs Asante Kotoko) have recorded violence and misconduct by fans in which referees have been assaulted, club officials heinously beaten and fans getting injured in the process.
All of these incidents have been limited to the Bono Ahafo and the Ashanti regions, where clubs like Asante Kotoko, Aduana Stars, Ashgold, Medeama SC etc are competing in Zone A of the NC Special competition.
Speaking to FOX FM, Ampem Darko outlined reasons behind the tension in the matches in zone A, suggesting road map for redress.
“As at now the matches being played at the Zone A in this competition all the matches are crucial, all of them, it’s not like that of Zone B”, Darko told FOX FM on Focal Sports.
“When you go to Zone B, if you want traditional or historical encounters that normally bring problems it’s between (Ebusua) Dwarfs and Elmina Sharks, all the other teams none of them has any rivalry or anything that brings tension, but if you go the Zone A if Kotoko goes to Obuasi (to face Ashgold) it’s tough, if Kotoko goes to Dormaa (to face Aduana Stars) it’s tough same as the other teams”, he explained.
Asked what should the NC and the organizing committee do to avoid recurrence and ensure sanity in the game, Ampem Darko urged the organizing body to team up with heads of security personnel in the regions to handover the security issues to them for a better protection.
“The Normalization Committee should try that those areas Ashanti, Bono Ahafo, Western region, they team up with the police administration, the regional security council immediately so they (the regional security councils) take over the security of those matches to avoid those things that happened recently”, Darko advised.
