Soccer News of Tuesday, 25 August 2015

Source: todaygh.com

Nduom bemoans hooliganism in Division 1 league

Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom

Football fans who thronged the Elmina Sports Stadium in the Central region displayed negative sportsmanship when they threw stones and ‘booed’ President of Groupe Nduom, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, who went to watch a match between Elmina Sharks and Ebusua Dwarfs over the weekend.

Dr. Nduom who shared his frustrations on his Facebook regretted the state of the league.

According to Dr. Nduom, after he greeted fans of Elmina Sharks, he went on to greet fans of Ebusua Dwarfs but in response to his greetings, fans of Dwarfs hooted and threw stones at him.

Dr. Nduom insisted that stone throwing, insults and intimidation by some fans of Ebusua Dawrfs marred the beauty of the game.

“It started before the match began. I greeted Sharks fans and walked over to greet Dwarfs fans. Dwarfs’ fans greeted me with boos, insults and threw stones at me in the Stadium our Groupe Nduom company built in Elmina,” he lamented.

The fans allegedly broke through the perimeter fence and went onto the pitch.
It took the timely intervention of personnel of the Ghana Police who chase them away.

…some of them did the usual, tried to turn this into an NDC versus PPP affair. Why would a healthy competition turn this way,” he wondered.

He called on the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to instil discipline in the league and among fans who support these clubs.

“Otherwise, why would anyone want to sponsor a team to play in the First Division League and why should I encourage GN Bank to continue to sponsor the league,” he warned.

The match however ended in a draw.

Below are his frustrations after the game as articulated on his Facebook wall:

Football Match – Sharks Versus Dwarfs – we deserve better than this!
Just came back from a football match and unfortunately, stone throwing, insults and intimidation marred the beauty of it.

It started before the match began. I greeted Sharks fans and walked over to greet Dwarfs fans. Dwarfs’ fans greeted me with boos, insults and threw stones at me in the Stadium our Groupe Nduom company built in Elmina.

During the match these fans broke through the perimeter fence and had to be chased away by the police.

Some of them did the usual, tried to turn this into an NDC versus PPP affair.

Why would a healthy competition turn this way? The GFA must discipline the league and the participants. Otherwise, why would anyone want to sponsor a team to play in the First Division League and why should I encourage GN Bank to continue to sponsor the league?

The match ended in a draw. But for the stones and chairs thrown and bad behavior, this would have been a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon of good football played by two good teams. Thousands of people from and Elmina and Cape Coast deserve better than this.