Our Football is a Death Trap- MP
The Member of Parliament for Bolga Central Isaac Adongo, has described Ghana’s football as a death trap, calling for urgent and stringent reforms.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on the killing of an Asante Kotoko fan at Nsoatre, he criticized the lack of basic medical kits to attend to the injured, the absence of ambulances and the sorry state of pitches that have characterised the country’s football.
He is of the firm view that the country’s football fields are rather a death trap.
“I was very sad to hear my colleague mention that they were struggling to get simple first aid. If you don’t have ambulances, you have no business in such a field. That is a death trap. We go there and nothing happens so we think that is a football field. What was the police situation? Where were the police? What was the requirement of security held in the stadium?”
Hon Adongo believes the death of Francis Yaw Frimpong, known as Pooley could have been avoided had necessary logistics and security been provided.
“In this particular instance, the information we have is that this young man had been threatened prior to the match and that the security agencies should have known that what happened to the young man could happen.”
Chastising the Ghana Football Association (GFA) for its apparent unconcern over these troubling issues, he opined that all needed measures must be instituted before the league resumes.
According to him, Ghana has no business risking precious lives for football which elsewhere is a profitable venture.
“I would like to call on you to direct the Ministry of Sports to take this matter very seriously and that if the GFA cannot follow rigorous protocols for licensing our football stadia, we should not be playing football as a country because football is a serious business and it’s about life where the protocol may require to be over 40 policemen, you arrive and only two policemen are there guiding and protecting spectators. The end result is that people die needlessly. People shouldn’t die needlessly following the passion for football.”
Meanwhile, he urged Parliament to take on the FA and hold it checks to do the right thing.
“I would like to call on this House to take on the GFA to make sure that before football returns, we are prepared in all respects and that our football fields are fit for purpose.”
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
