FIFA U-17 World Cup: Ghana fans demand answers from officials

Ghanaian supporters are demanding answers from officials of the Black Starlets team after a report emerged that they accepted to play the game on the soggy pitch when they had an option to ask for its postponement because of the poor condition of the pitch due to a heavy downpour before and during the match.

The city of Guwahati experienced heavy rainfall that lasted all day and which informed FIFA to call a crisis meeting between officials of Ghana and Mali ahead of their quarter-final clash at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium last Saturday.

According to sources, the meeting by FIFA was to assess the situation and to decide whether or not the match should go ahead or be rescheduled, but the Ghanaian officials reportedly opted that the match went ahead on the soggy pitch.

But many of the Ghanaian supporters in India have lashed out at the authorities for not calling for the postponements of the game when it was clear the Starlets were not accustomed to playing well on a soggy pitch which rather enured to Mali’s benefit.

“The officials have a lot of answers because they did not exercise their discretion well and have caused us a defeat. They should have asked for a postponement of the game but rather exposed the boys to this poor pitch and it affected their passing and general performance,” said a group of enraged fans at the team hotel after Ghana’s 1-2 loss.

However, Ghana’s coach Paa Kwasi Fabin, refuted the claims by the fans when he admitted at a post-match interview that he wanted the game postponed when the pitch became very soggy but the organisers ignored his demands.

"I thought the game should have been abandoned and played another time but then those who are organising it said we should play so we had to play," Fabin said.