Sports Features of Tuesday, 9 March 2004

Source: Kwasi Amo-Mensah

Player Harrassment Is Over

Player harrassment is over in Ghana and our soccer is now seeing peace and safety of footballers. That is what we expect to see now that we go by respect for human rights .

We remember the agony some Ghanaian players went through some years back. It was so horrible for fans to assault Santrofie Acquah in 1988 when a so called preventable goal was scored against Hearts by Cornerstones in Kumasi after the player had refused to apply the safety first method.

I would not know how fans reacted earlier to Kotoko`s Kuuku Dadzie and Dan Oppong acused of bribery when Kotoko lost 1:2 to Hearts in october 1976. Sarfo Gyamfi as well met the wrath of fans after a Ghana-Zambia match in 1988 for dismal performance. In a related case of Joe Addo, he was acused of wasting a penalty aganst Kotoko on a 4 June 1989 anniversary cup match which Hearts won 2:1. Similar cases ocurred in the 90s. Some players even refused to take penalty kicks due to fear of harrassment should they fail to score.

All such cases are gone in Ghana since I don`t read on them on this site. Fans should be reminded that clubs have structures through which they can address grievances. If a player is not meeting your expectation, you can channel your case through the appropriate quarters. That is the beauty of football. However the performance of a refferees, they should as well not be assaulted.

Ghana soccer is becoming more healthier. Positive sign it is for Ghana sports.


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