Our league has now come alive
I have always frowned on non-competitive football leagues and so I was excited that the Spanish La Liga went down to the wire with Barcelona and Real Madrid fighting for the title.
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But I ask if ours is going to be another "Kotoko miracle", a "Hearts dream come alive" or vice versa, when the curtain is drawn on our Premier League. Our league made nonsense of the avowed synchronisation with the European calendar and had to make a false start with all the court cases still unsettled; thanks to the bravery of newly-appointed Premier League Board (PLB) chairman, Ashford Tettey-Oku with the backing of Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi, the GFA President. The programme was becoming a shameful non-starter, and some radical methods had to be applied while some major and minor court cases were still pending at the courts that needed some legal settlement.
Honestly, the manner in which the interest of the public was drifting to the European football calendar that had then taken off on time and was tearing away created a lot of alarm as the clubs started crying over the delay and the losses incurred in the payment of player and other salaries.Everybody saw the sweat on the foreheads of the club chairmen who had spent huge sums to gain the signatures of some worthy players, and had compassion for them. And that was where the FA and the PLB had to summon courage to push their agenda through and announced the commencement of the programme on February 21, 2016.
Meanwhile, Accra Hearts of Oak who in the previous competition escaped relegation by the skin of the teeth, had employed the services of a new coach, a Japanese - American, Kenishi Yatsuhachi, who had expressed his belief that his boys were ready to deliver, Meanwhile Kumasi Asante Kotoko management member, Edmund Ackah boasted about the preparedness of Kotoko, saying on some radio stations that they were on the warpath and that after Match Day 10, they would be declared league winners in advance.
Hearts’ readiness became obvious at once as according to their prediction they took off on a smooth note with a sweet victory over New Edubiase United, while Kotoko slipped in their first match at Sogakope against WAFA. Kotoko from then on had to wait until Match Day Five before picking their first three points from tottering Hasaacas in Kumasi. These were events that culminated in the Kotoko camp compelling the management to ask coach David Duncan to "step aside" for his assistant Michael Osei to take over as a caretaker coach.
Like magic, the Kotoko spirit resuscitated and it ran through to the Match Day 10 when they descended on Accra to discipline Hearts at their own backyard with that singular most bizarre own-goal courtesy Soulama Abdoulaye.
In the midst of all these, Wa All Stars travelled down south to quench Hearts’ fire with an unbelievable humiliation that charged the home fans to throw sportsmanship to the dogs, resulting in their current punishment of playing two of their home matches at an empty Accra Stadium. The league then looked like an ordinary kick-about, but everyone will bear witness to a cracker of a competition as at now.
Indeed, when the history of the 2015/2016 Ghana Premier League is to be re-written, one of the highlights will definitely be the poor start of Kotoko, and how their spirit was rekindled with that poor goalkeeping of Soulama Abdulaye who conducted a harmless back-pass into his own net.
Posterity will have a lot to talk about the current league competition that is drawing greater interest with the way the two glamorous clubs are fighting for leadership.
For now, I can say the interest in the competition has been fully rekindled with fans throwing their weight behind their clubs, watching the way the Phobian supporters are rallying support from behind the gates of Accra Sports Stadium while their team face the present predicament. Truly, these are signs that football is a crazy game, and people can truly sacrifice their lives for the game.
This is the time for lessons to be learnt, not only by football fans, but most importantly the referees who act as judges on the field of play. There is the tendency to make mistakes as humans, but then one mistake by a referee can result in many serious ramifications, and it is high time they take serious note over their conduct at tension matches.
Reports of hooliganism and referee attacks at certain centres in the Division One must be the concern of the body that handles that aspect of the game. We have pleaded with the law enforcement agencies to be up and doing and help make our citizens more law-abiding at playing centres and see to punish perpetrators who take the law into their own hands. The recent case of King Solomon fans attacking football officials and the —latest punishment meted to them must be for reformation, and a lesson to all fans everywhere.
Now with Kotoko coming like "kakai" to close up or overtake Hearts, the threat by the Porcupine Warriors will keep the heat in the coming weeks and fans will have a lot to cheer about especially after Hearts have finished serving their punishment for their fans misdemeanour. Coach Osei deserves commendation for his resilience and ability to change the destiny of his beloved club to win the confidence of the Circles and their followers.
From the look of things, nobody should be surprised if the race becomes a two-horse affair. Hearts, who have suffered cup drought for the past six seasons and Kotoko who seem more anxious to fulfill their dream of entering Africa next season, will go on igniting the fire. This will keep the competition alive, but we all have to be amazed at the way the European competition has run through smoothly while ours has not kept pace despite the synchronisation we trumpeted. What darkness is surrounding our own programme, and how can we make sure that we don't plunge into the calamity of judicial settlements when we have our own Disciplinary and Review Committees to deal with all local cases?
And let me ask again whether the African Football Confederation cannot enforce the continental common calendar as it pertains in Europe.