Public Relations Officer of Ashanti Gold SC, Seth Ofori Acheampong, has criticised the Ghana Football Association (GFA) over what he describes as a “lazy and reactive” approach to dealing with hooliganism, following violent incidents during his club’s Division One League match against PAC Academy.
The comments come after the GFA Executive Council indefinitely banned PAC Academy from using their home venue, with immediate effect, based on preliminary reports of crowd violence that marred the fixture over the weekend.
According to the GFA, the decision was taken to protect players, match officials and supporters, while investigations into the incident continue. In the meantime, the Competitions Department has been tasked with assigning alternative venues for PAC Academy’s subsequent home matches, taking into account the travel burden on away teams.
Reacting to the sanction, Ofori Acheampong said the FA’s response, although necessary, fails to address the fundamental causes of hooliganism in Ghanaian football.
“I think our approach ; you spoke about the ban , I think the approach in quote for me is becoming the laziest approach in tackling this whole thing. Quickly, the FA goes into a ban for the home team,” he said.
“I believe that we can go a step further where the home team will be asked to produce the supporters who either orchestrated it or executed it.”
To support his argument, Ofori Acheampong cited a previous incident in Obuase, which he believes provides a practical model for dealing with crowd violence.
“I remember one police commander who was at Obuase. He was then a DSP, Martin Asenso. There was a game between Ashanti Gold Sporting Club, the old club, and one other club ; I think Kotoko was one of those clubs.
There were some Obuasi supporters who attacked their own team. No arrest was made because the supporters outnumbered his men, so it wouldn’t have been sensible to try making an arrest there.
Pac Academy’s team after losing to FC Ashantigold in the Match Day 14 of the Access Bank Division One League attacked not only the referees of the game but also Ashgold technical team and players.This act resulted to a serious injury of Coach Kamara Dini and Nafiu, the team’s pho pic.twitter.com/odlLCfIPBs
— Edmund Osafo Addo (@osafoaddo10) January 4, 2026
So they made sure they pictured those who were in the front line orchestrating those moves, and later called the management of the then, Ashanti gold’, described the men to them and asked them to produce them. And these men were produced. The law took its own course.”
According to him, adopting similar measures could significantly reduce hooliganism across the country’s football leagues.
So I think we can just go a step further. If only the clubs would be honest enough, and would not be involved themselves, to produce videos or pictures of some of these people that are very obvious
The incident between PAC Academy and Ashanti Gold 04 has once again brought the issue of crowd misconduct to the fore, with growing calls for the GFA to adopt a more decisive and preventive framework to curb hooliganism, particularly in the lower divisions.
The outcome of the investigations and any further sanctions will be keenly watched as the Division One League campaign continues.
