As we commence the 2013/2014 Glo Premier League season, to be followed by the Division One League, it is important to discuss the safety and security at the various league centres.
Security and protection of match officials and players, especially the visiting players and their officials, have been compromised on many occasions before, during and after matches. This is due mainly to the little attention that is paid to infrastructure and administrative deficiencies.
The ease with which some irate fans are able to scale walls and so-called inner-perimeter fences can be singled out as examples of some of the deficiencies.
Every team wants to play in their own backyard. That is welcome as far as spectatoring and grassroot football are concerned. But in some cases, a few of these home grounds do not measure up to laid down standards and requirements.
Additionally, the quality and standard of security personnel are seriously undermined. Some local security men appear not capable of separating their personal support of home teams from the the necessity to be professional and being above board.
Another shortcoming of most of our security personnel is their posture and comportment when they are detailed to be in charge of safety and security during matches. Some behave more like football fans and supporters instead of concentrating on purely their professional duties, to the extent that some of them even jubilate openly when goals are scored.
Indeed, I have never seen a security man on duty within the inner perimeter with his back facing the field of play while focusing on the spectators. This is equal to being idle on duty.
There is no denying the fact that most Ghanaians are lovers of the game of football, and for that matter we support one team or the other. But once the reason for their presence during matches is the provision of security and safety, that should occupy their minds and guide them.
They are able to play this role on other national occasions effectively, so why not during matches. After all, how long does a normal football match last? Is it not 90 minutes of two equal halves?
Another area of security aloofness and disinterest is the non-attention they pay to what always looks like camping and operating areas of drug users. It is reported and known that during matches fans who look like and operate like wee smoking supporters are overlooked. These are a group of supporters who fire themselves up with drugs ready to assault their victims after matches.
It was alleged in a radio contribution that some fans who patronise the stands near or behind the scoreboard at the Accra Sports Stadium cannot jubilate during and after matches openly. 
If this is true, then the security personnel who operate during local matches at the stadium should find out and put an end to that fear. During the same programme, the chairman of the FA Security and Safety Committee, Mr Nicholas Asante, revealed in his analysis of security during the past season that about 70 per cent of all security breaches occurred at the Tamale and Berekum stadia. This is not surprising. But the question is: Where are the two main practitioners of violence, fear and panic at those two centres-relegation.
The two centres were notorious for violence and assault of match officials and visiting teams and their handlers. They are free to take me to court. I will plead justification and defend my position.
Indeed, during my active days, I made sure I avoided handling matches at the Kaladan Stadium in Tamale by writing a letter to the Referees Committee to the effect that, owing to the nature of my work I could not travel too far away to Tamale.
Anyway, those were the days a referee had to start his journey to Tamale on Fridays and return to work on Tuesdays or sometimes on Wednesdays due to the bad nature of the road network. One could not travel in a day to Tamale or return to Accra in a day. That way, I was able to avoid the assault and beatings my colleagues had to endure in Tamale.
Anyway, I had to be beaten in a match by all means, and when the time came, I had it at the Cape Coast Stadium, only 90 miles away from Accra. Perhaps that is what people call destiny. My beating was not justified. That team is a violent one, and my charge is born of the fact that the team has not seen premiership action again after that season. That is almost 30 years ago.
Referees need security and safety to operate well. Referees have unique jobs to perform during matches. A referee’s decision is not always acceptable to players and their followers. Every ball that touches or makes contact with an opponent’s hand is not a foul. Every fall in the penalty area of an opponent should not call for a penalty award.
Every team, especially those playing at home, would like to win and celebrate. That is not how our matches should be played and officiated. Lack of adequate security and safety measures before, during and after matches can contribute to the poor officiating and negative improvement in our football. Teams which could lose certain matches because match officials might fear to take the correct decisions they are supposed to take do not help themselves. Our referees are a group of fearless officials. But we must help them.
For our league to continue to grow, those who are charged to manage and control the various departments of the league should continue to play their expected and assigned duties without fear or favour. Football fans who misbehave and assault match officials and their opponents should be subjected to laid-down laws and regulations.
We can count the many occasions when violence and physical assaults have occurred before, during and after matches. But we don’t know anybody who has been taken to court for prosecution. It is said that, as a country, we have put in place various laws to govern and control us but we do not implement them. We shouted and made a lot of noise about ‘Okada’ riders; they are still there and operating; illegal miners are still operating, Chinese retailers are still there and operating, and many more.
Let us not handle those who decide to be hooligans in our football the same way. The challenge is that we should try and provide our referees with the serene atmosphere to operate. Thereafter, we would be able to assess and judge them.
Graphic Sports/graphic.com.gh/Ghana
