Sports News of Thursday, 3 August 2017

Source: sportsobama.com

Health expert cautions Kotoko ahead of Hearts clash

Dr Prince Pamboe Dr Prince Pamboe

CAF Sports Medicine Instructor, Dr Prince Pamboe has urged Kotoko to avoid displaying photos of the late equipment officer Thomas Obeng Asare on Sunday.

Pamboe, a member of the Ghana Football Association medical committee is cautioning the Kotoko players, officials and supporters against showing images that will jog memories of their gory accident on July 12 when they play Hearts of Sunday.

According to the renowned medical practitioner, such an action will have a psychological effect on some players which will result in the “dampening of their spirit”.

“Considering where they are coming from especially from a tragic event like that, what I know people will try and say they are playing this game in honour of the departed and all that but then they need to be cautious of wanting to bring back memories of what happened to them”, He told SportsObama.com.

“And so one of the things they might want to advise themselves is the unnecessary display of the incident or even the departed”.

“That will have the tendency to remind somebody of the incident and we are all not the same when it comes to how mentally tough we are so when a player see and remembers what happened on the night, it can affect his performance”.

“It is psychological and not medical. Medically they are all fit but psychologically, they need to be cautious. In fact I’m throwing this caution to the fans who might hold placards with images of the dead or the incident and hang some banners with some writings to that effect”.

“They might think such banners and images is a form of support but when players are reminded of it, they might lose focus and result in the dampening of their spirit”, He added.

The much-anticipated Premier League clash between Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak is scheduled to take place at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi on Sunday.

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Kotoko return to action against Hearts in a 23rd Week outstanding Premier League match following their fatal accident at Nkawkaw which claimed the life of their assistant equipment officer last month.