A solemn ceremony was held at the Accra Sports stadium to commemorate the unfortunate incident that took the lives of 127 football fans some 22 years ago in a crucial match between Accra Hearts of Oak and Ashanti Kotoko.

Speaking at the event, the Minister for Youth and Sports, Mr Mustapha Ussif, said it was an honour for him to be at the 22nd-anniversary edition of the May 9 stadium catastrophe event and that it was crucial to remember the people who lost their lives in that tragic incident.

"Today, 22 years ago, serves as Remembrance Day of the tragedy that occurred and 127 Ghanaian football fans lost their lives and 100 got injured," he noted.

Mr Ussif, who spoke under the theme "Never Again, Say No to Hooliganism," expressed conviction that the commemoration of the event annually has helped in shaping Ghana football and can attest to numerous lessons learnt from the organization of the event, adding that it has strengthened the cohesion and harmony in the sports fraternity.

He urged football fans to draw lessons from the terrible occurrence 22 years ago to prevent a repetition.

The Director-General of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Prof. Peter Twumasi, commended the government for making significant investments in the various sports facilities to guarantee that accidents like the May 9 calamity would never occur at our football games or other sporting events.

He advised football fans to eschew tendencies that may lead to such unfortunate incidents.

He stated that the GFA would continue to collaborate with all significant parties to guarantee the ongoing safety of all spectators at the various stadiums at all times.