A journalist, they say, must be neutral. Where two sides are concerned, he must not take sides. This makes a lot of sense but neutrality is practically impossible. A journalist must be fair to both sides and follow the journalistic principle of balanced reportage. Apart from politics, however, it is safe to declare one’s stance on certain issues. Even in our local politics, you are only a biased journalist if you openly support either the NDC or NPP. The rest don’t count that’s why the “neutral” ones are in the CPP and PNC. In sports, it’s safer. After the 29th week league matches, a caller called into Peace FM accusing the host of the programme of his biases. The host was uncharacteristically downhearted after Kotoko had lost to Ashgold and the caller spoke my mind. I have never dreamt of becoming a sports journalist but The Ghanaian Times’ John Vigah’s writings are whetting my appetite for sports. Besides, I can longer keep the mental trauma I have had endure all this while to myself, while my favourite club, Accra Hearts of Oak got stuck in the quagmire of irritating draws and embarrassing defeats. At a point in time I asked, “Or is it that someone has found an equally potent antidote to their ‘ways and means’? It was about a decade ago when I Hearts of Oak impressed me in their spell-binding performance at the African Champions League. That was when my eyes were beginning to open to the world of sports, and they automatically captured my heart, soul and mind. No vestige of space in my heart is left for Kotoko or any other team in the local league. Hearts of Oak’s performance this season has given me enough headache and I don’t think I will ever forgive the Phobians if they allow Sporting Mirren to deny them the league trophy on Sunday.

It is said that what begins well ends well. The beginning and the expected end of this season’s Glo Premier League has however proved that there are exceptions to this saying. The infatuation with foreign leagues and the European Champions League totally drowned the domestic league, which lacked the necessary ingredients to win the hearts of soccer fans. Even after those leagues, there were no signs of progress until Accra Hearts of Oaks’ unusual stagnation and the meteoric rise of Kumasi Asante Kotoko breathed new life into the lifeless league. The excitement in our domestic league is usually sustained by the rivalry between Hearts and Kotoko and since Kotoko was in a devastating form at the beginning, the boring nature of the league was expected. Kotoko however managed to overcome their predicaments and went ahead to break a fifteen-year record by stunning Accra Hearts of Oak at the Ohene Gyan Stadium, having suffered a humiliating defeat from the Phobians back home during the first round of the competition. The rest of Kotoko’s unprecedented rise and Hearts’ irritating stagnation are well documented. The latter stage of the competition has even been made livelier because teams such as Real Tamale United and Ashgold are threatened by relegation.

The excitement in this year’s league has reached its apex but Sunday is yet to provide the clues as to who emerges victorious and who will miss the premiership next season. Even as we still wait to see who jubilates and who mourns, it is important to be extra cautious to avert clashes that that have threatened to erode the gains the domestic league has made since the May 9 disaster nine years ago.

After the unfortunate situation that led to the death of lives at the Baba Yara Sports stadium when Hearts played Kotoko, many other incidents in these last days of the league have given enough cause for alarm. Supporters of Hearts of Oak went berserk in the 28th week encounter between their club and Bechem Chelsea and displayed one of the nastiest scenes in modern football. When Kumasi Asante Kotoko took on Ashgold last Sunday, the Obuase Len Clay stadium witnessed some violent behaviours, while the Swedru All-Blacks and the Secondi Eleven Wise encounter at Swedru had to be cancelled due to insecurity. These and other disturbances at the various league centres have given us enough clues about what to expect on Sunday and the Ghana Football Association, the Professional League Board and the Ghana League Clubs Association must find an antidote to unexpected.

First is the issue of security. The practice whereby the club playing at home is responsible for the provision of security must be given a second look. Past experiences show that most of the time, the number of security personnel they provide is woefully inadequate to control irate spectators. It is the visiting teams that are usually vulnerable in times of violence and must be given adequate protection by organizers of the league and not their opponents, who will not miss any chance to exploit them for gains. There are sometimes reports of some security personnel supporting the home teams thereby ignoring fairness in times of violence. This must be checked at all venues, especially teams that consider their last duels a-do-or-die affair.

Another issue that must be taken seriously is the incident of match fixing. Some of the clubs are playing for pride. They have nothing to lose or gain and Sunday’s match may not be of much significance to them. We had such precedence in the 2006/2007 league season when two division one clubs came out of their last round of matches with ridiculous score lines which not even some basket ball matches are not able to produce. Organizers must ensure that all matches start at the same time and must be carefully monitored. The PLB and GFA must also work to ensure that all outstanding cases brought before them are fairly addressed before the last round of matches are played.

We have come a long way and should not see this as just a local league. Ghana football is inextricably linked to the rest of the world any negative impression we create can go a long way to soil our chances of hosting international tournaments in the future. Football fans going to the stadia on Sunday should watch their behaviours because football is a game and not war.

Before I conclude, Hearts of Oak should be wary of their action. Management should get a psychologist for the team before they step onto the pitch. For now our consolation is the motto: Never say die until the bones are rotten! Can we say Die and abandon Hearts if you lose or draw against Sporting Mirren? Long live the premier league, long live Ghana football.

Credit: Manasseh Azure Awuni [azureahebe2@yahoo.com]

The writer is the SRC President of the Ghana Institute of Journalism.