Shooting incident mars Chelsea, Kotoko game at Berekum
A shooting incident minutes before the commencement of the Normalisation Committee's Special Cup match between Berekum Chelsea and Kumasi Asante Kotoko marred the otherwise beautiful football that ended in a goalless draw at the Berekum Golden City Park on Sunday.
When all attention was fixed on the beginning of the game, a misunderstanding ensued at the VIP stand which resulted in exchange of blows between some Kotoko and Chelsea supporters.
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After the police had intervened, everybody thought the matter had been resolved but the disagreement simmered at a different place with supporters of the two clubs pushing one another.
It was at this point that one of the officials of Kotoko, who was later identified as Dr Amo Sarpong, described as the Policy Analyst of Kotoko, went for a gun from the boot of his car and started firing warning shots.
The Daily Graphic was informed later that a supporter of Berekum Chelsea hit Dr Sarpong's head with a stone after he had fired the warning shots injuring him in the process.
He was rushed to the Berekum Holy Family Hospital where the Daily Graphic learnt he received treatment.
Later on, one military officer and additional police personnel seen all over the park restored sanity throughout the match.
The incident did not, however, take the shine off the beautiful football exhibited by the two teams who were all determined not to concede a goal and limited the game mostly to the midfield.
When Kotoko kicked off the match with Bolgatanga-based Class One referee, Bernard Domfeh, in the centre, they showed glimpses of the performance that enabled them to beat Chelsea by 2-0 in their encounter at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi the previous week.
However, determined not to be beaten twice within a week, Chelsea’s Francis Twene, Zakaria Fuseini, Iddrisu Alhasan and Jonathan Attuaquaye, who manned the defence, stood their ground and thwarted all attempts of Kotoko strikers spearheaded by Jordan Opoku, Emmanuel Gyamfi and Abdul Salifu Fatawu.
As was to be expected, the earlier incident dominated discussions after the match as people were seen in groups debating who was to be blamed for the sparks of violence.