Kickoff (Cape Town)
14 October 2008
World Football governing body FIFA is demanding an explanations for the events at the Essipong Stadium that overshadowed Ghana's qualification for the final round of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
KickOffGhana.com understands that FIFA officially asked the Ghana Football Association to provide a full report on the events at Sekondi after reports that a stampede had occurred at the venue of the match injuring fifteen fans in the process.
World Cup qualifying games in Africa in the past has been beset by crowd trouble and FIFA is keen to prevent an further occurrences hence the swift reaction to the Ghana incident.
The 20,000 capacity stadium which was hosting its first game involving the senior national team the black Stars was badly over crowded with many fans taking up the stairways and some allowed inside the inner perimeter to ease the over crowding.
Many fans got into the stadium without tickets after they broke down two gates to gain free entry while those with tickets could not get access to seats.
Ghana Football Association president Kwesi Nyantekyie blamed the problems on a lack of experience of the organisers and poor ticketing and security arrangements which was handled by the National Sports Council.
"There were so many security personnel at the stadium but it appeared to me there were problems.
"This was the first time the Black Stars or any of the national teams were playing a game here and it appears the organisers were overwhelmed about it. It may have accounted for the lapses," Nyantekyie told KickOffGhana.com.
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