The National Sports Authority has ordered both Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak to bear the cost of replacing broken chairs at the Baba Yara Stadium else they will not be given access to any of the nation’s football grounds in future.
The directive came on Monday after supporters of Accra Hearts of Oak destroyed 271 seats at the Baba Yara stadium during Sunday’s friendly game with rivals Kumasi Asante Kotoko.
Director-General of the National Sports Authority, Majeed Bawa, told Citi Sports on Monday that the order was to push the clubs to show greater respect towards national sporting facilities.
“I am asking the Ashanti Regional Director to give me a report of what happened. Based on the report, we will meet the teams and surcharge them with the replacement of the destroyed chairs. These stadia are properties of the state and they are not owned by Hearts or Kotoko. They must be maintained and that is our responsibility.”
“It is high time we made people responsible for their actions, and so for Hearts and Kotoko, their failure to pay means that we will not give out any of our facilities for them to use.”
Hearts of Oak fans clashed with the military towards the end of the game after being angered by a supposed penalty call that was not given by the referee.
The fans ripped chairs and hauled them onto the pitch in protest leaving the NSA to count its cost.
The cost of fixing a seat, according to the NSA, is GHS 110 so in total, Hearts of Oak fans destroyed chairs totaling GHS 30,250.
The two teams have been surcharged with the amount since their decision to play the match drive the fans to the ground in the first place and the specific fans who caused the damage cannot be identified by the NSA and the clubs.
This is not new
In 2015, over 4,000 seats at the same stadium were broken by students from 4 senior high schools in the Ashanti Region during an Inter-Schools athletics competition.
They were subsequently surcharged by the NSA but the seats have yet to be fixed.
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By: Citi Sports/Ghana