Members of Parliament have decried the increasing spate of hooliganism in Ghana football.
In their view, if the canker was not checked and stopped, Ghana’s decade’s old image as a ‘football nation’ could suffer injury and cast it in bad light.
The lawmakers expressed this concern when the Ranking Member on Youth, Sports and Culture Committee, Kobena Mensah Woyome, made a statement on the floor on Friday, condemning recent acts of hooliganism recorded at some match venues.
Describing the violence, mostly perpetuated by fans, as disheartening and barbaric, Mr. Woyome, NDC MP, South Tongu, proposed that a severe punishment regime including lifetime bans is put in place to deter people from engaging in such conduct.
“Mr. Speaker, it is disheartening to wake up in the morning to hear that a sporting official or football lover has sustained injuries because of doing what he loves at the stadium.
“It is about time this issue is addressed once and for all, given the fact that we all agree on the role of football in uniting us and promoting productivity for national development,” he said.
He conceded that though football hooliganism dates back as far back as the 1880s, “I expect that if not completely eliminated, it should not be at the rate that we are witnessing today.”
He said the May 9, 2001 Accra Sports Stadium disaster, the worst stadium disaster in African history, which claimed 127 lives, should serve as lesson to Ghana.
On his part, NPP Sunyani East MP, Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, urged that security.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
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