On Sunday night, a handful of Hearts of Oak fans joined scores of Asante Kotoko supporters as they held a night vigil in memory of Francis ‘Nana Pooley’ Yaw Frimpong.

In case you have not heard, Yaw Frimpong was a Kotoko fan who was murdered last week after their match against Nsoatreman F.C.

Ordinarily, fans of the two teams would never agree, let alone join forces for any cause.

This was as rare as a blooming Sahara desert.

While all must join in mourning the death of Pooley, part of the healing process requires telling the uncomfortable truths that, by luck, may force some introspection, if these are not lost souls.

There are no victims here

Sunday night's gathering, as moving as it was, was not a gathering of victims. Not by any stretch.

The two sets of fans are the same lot who, on multiple occasions, have pelted players, referees, and club administrators with stones.

Less than a year ago, the same Kotoko fans destroyed seats and other equipment at the Dr. Kyei Sports Complex after Nations F.C. was awarded a late penalty in a league match. That was hooliganism.

Angry fans ripped freshly installed seats in anger over a late penalty awarded to Nations F.C.

The club did not bother to investigate the conduct of its fans, let alone punish the identified culprits.

That has been their default reaction to every act of hooliganism.

Kotoko has, by their silence and nonchalance, sponsored thuggery among fans who wage war on players, management members, reporters, and coaches.

Institutionalized hooliganism

David Duncan and Zdravko Lugaruzic, former coaches of the club, were forcibly removed from post by fans while still having contracts with the club.

In April 2017, Seidu Mba, a popular Kotoko fan, denied Zdravko Lugarusic access to the club’s Adako Jaachie Training Complex as he led a number of fans in protest against the team.

Lugarusic’s Kotoko had a fairly good start to the season. In 11 games, he had recorded five wins, four draws and two defeats, scoring seven goals and conceding just four.

Kotoko were second on the league table, four points less than the league leaders.

Results aside, the main cause of worry then was that the team was not playing expansive, attractive brand of football and could not dominate teams, only winning matches by slim margins.

It did not matter to Seidu and his group that this was a project at its infancy. They did what they felt was right. And how did Kotoko respond to Seidu’s bold act? … Nothing.

No statement to condemn him. His status as a fan eligible to buy tickets and watch games was not affected. Nothing.

What about the Croat? There was no statement of solidarity from the club after such public humiliation.

Instead, on the 9th of April, 2017, Kotoko announced the sacking of Zdravko Lugarusic. Seidu had won. He had led a group of supporters to force the hand of the club. Or so it appeared. Whichever way, this was a seminal moment in Seidu’s story as we will later learn.

On 24th June 2021, Andy Pomaye, a reporter for Max FM, was forcibly removed from the Len Clay Stadium during Kotoko’s league match with Karela United. His crime?

He said referee Jacob Aduntera’s decision to award a penalty to Kotoko, may not have been consistent with the regulations.

On match days, fans, who, by definition, should not be authorized to go anywhere other than the washroom and the stands, are seen moving to restricted areas such as the inner perimeter and sometimes the pitch.

Kotoko are not alone in this. Clubs have made a habit of flooding the inner perimeter.

The victim of last Sunday’s stabbing, Nana Pooley, by his confession, once slapped a staff of Legon Cities for entering one of these restricted areas.

Even the designated security officers for such matches have accepted this pre-historic, silly convention. To the extent that they do not bother to question any club staff or non-technical official they see within the inner perimeter.

Legon Cities official and Asante Kotoko fan involved in a busy up after the official tried to stop Kotoko players from warming up close to the Legon Cities post at halftime. pic.twitter.com/DJkqWc4mMi

— Kotoko News & Updates (@DailyPorcupine) October 30, 2024

As depicted in the video, the Police only intervene when there is a conflict.

The support base of both Hearts and Kotoko, have ‘Touching Committees’; groups set aside specifically to physically abuse persons whose conduct and/or utterances displease these supporter groups.

Many years ago, the excellent Karl Tuffouh was nearly killed by Hearts fans at the Accra Sports Stadium.

It took the intervention of Frank Nelson, then a board member of the club to save him. Do not bother asking for their reasons. Has there ever been a justifiable reason for physically attacking anyone?

These Touching Committees are so powerful they can decide who watches the club's matches. Not long ago, Boakye Buckman ''Dada Oliseh'', a photojournalist and a Hearts of Oak fan was banned from watching Hearts matches. Reason?

He had published some images from the team’s training session and the supporters were not happy with him.

It did not matter that Oliseh was a Hearts fan and through his work, had become more or less an ambassador of the club.

By their actions and inactions, Ghanaian football clubs have institutionalized hooliganism.

GFA, a willing partner in a culture of thuggery

The Ghana Football Association has always complained about what it describes as corrosive reportage and commentary.
What its ever-paranoid-sounding assigns fail to admit, is that the reputational damage it suffers is often self-inflicted.

When referee Andoh Kyei was beaten to death by fans eleven years ago, the GFA promised systemic security changes.
Six years later, referee Sunto Aziz miraculously escaped death when fans of Wamanafo Mighty Royals revealed their thuggish nature and beat him up.

When any of Ghana's national teams are playing, senior journalists, officials of the GFA, staff of the Sports Ministry, and all manner of people who have no business being on the tartan tracks or in the dugout are allowed there.

On the few occasions that public outrage forces the GFA to punish hooligans, it is mostly a slap on the wrist and nothing punitive.

So when club representatives met with officials of the GFA at its secretariat last week to find solutions to the hydra-headed problem of hooliganism, the paradox of it was hard to miss.

Essentially, Ghana football’s problems had gathered in a room to resolve Ghana football’s problems.