Positive lessons from the Hearts-Kotoko match
The 2015/2016 Premier League season has entered an interesting and exciting period with the Match Day 10 encounter between old-time rivals, Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko at the Accra Sports Stadium last Monday. Any technical observer at the stadium would certainly conclude that a lot of efforts went into the pre-match arrangements.
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The GFA/PLB itself held at least two stakeholders meetings to ensure that matters dealing with security, medical, match attendance, publicity and general arrangements were thoroughly discussed and taken care of. This is in strict conformity with the Government White Paper on the famous Okudzeto Report which recommended that anytime the two teams were to play against each other, the organisers should follow certain guidelines and protocols, including the holding of stakeholders meetings.
Although Hearts-Kotoko matches advertise and publicise themselves because of the strength of the brands, our media also either do best to hype the match. No official figures have been released so far, but it was clear that attendance was the highest compared to others in recent times as one radio commentator said.
My information is that as part of the general security hype in the country, our national security outfit took over the security of the match. Therefore, security both before and during the match was at its highest. And the good thing was that the thousands of fans who attended the match really comported themselves and enjoyed the thrills and entertainment that the match produced.
It was refreshing that referee Awal Mohammed produced an excellent and fair officiating. In matches involving Hearts and Kotoko and indeed any other competitive match, one major concern has always been fair and unbiased officiating.
Referee Awal displayed competent on-field skills on how to talk to players; which players to talk to and those he needed not to talk to. Communication is an essential skill set in refereeing that covers a number of key areas, including body language and listening. Additionally, he and his assistants showed that they were in control of the game, as well as in control of themselves, by exhibiting their knowledge and understanding of the Laws of the Game.
Although it was not a flawless performance, the Hearts/Kotoko match provided the opportunity for the referee to show on crucial occasions that he was on top of the game. He cautioned players who engaged in reckless play and also applied the ultimate sanction of dismissal of two players, including the Hearts of Oak goal-keeper. Dismissal of players is an act that can be inflamed by the reaction of players and supporters. But it was refreshing that on both occasions, they were calmly accepted without the usual strong presence of other players resulting in hold-ups. And when it all ended, the match officials left the field of play without the need for maximum police escort and protection.
It should, however, be pointed out that the way and manner the only goal of the match was registered removed any blame or involvement of the match officials. And so, at the end of it all, it was jubilation galore for the Kotoko faithful and sadness for the supporters of the home team, some of whom remained at the stadium and its environs, so many hours after the end of the match. That is football — win, draw or lose. Although there was no cause for fans misbehaviours, the cool comportment of the Hearts fans should be commended. They lost the three points at stake, but perhaps they were able to identify the reasons for their loss and they rightly refused to put their frustration and pain on the match officials as they did in the past. Football responds to growth and our fans should follow that growth.
As usual, I am sure our Referees Committee went through a lot of mind buggling and search to arrive at selecting referee Awal Mohammed and his assistants, Adams Badiu from Wa and Samuel Asiedu from Tamale. It was always difficult selecting match officials, especially the middleman for Hearts-Kotoko matches. Gradually, this problem will belong to the past and virtually, any referee can be appointed to do the job.
As the league matches progress, it would be advisable for the Referees Committee to take charge of the rather disturbing behaviour of some players who appear to be faking injuries during their matches.
Our football is gradually being spoilt for many fans by the number of players who stay down after tackles, apparently seriously injured, often writhing in agony, only to be miraculously revived after the most cursory treatment.
Some players often stay down while their own goal was in danger and as soon as that danger passed, they jump to their feet even without any treatment. Others go down for a breather or to take the momentum out the opponents play.
But in most cases, players especially goalkeepers go down when their side is leading and the match has a few minutes to end. A recent example was by some WAFA players during the Hearts-WAFA Match Day Eight and even during the Hearts-Kotoko Match Day 10 match.
The same incidents occurred during the 2010 World Cup tournament in South Africa. It is understood that after the World Cup, the Technical Committee of the British Professional Game Match Officials tried a quite revolutionary solution aimed at dealing with faked injuries.
If this new idea found favour with the Committee, the plan was to be put to the British Football Association. And if they approved it, the suggestion was to be put forward to the International FA Board at their meeting to discuss changes to the Laws of the Game. The object of this grand idea is to put a stop to players feigning injury. It appears that suggestion from the British FA was not accepted by the International Football Association Board.
I think this was not accepted because the Board members saw no good reason to introduce something new, when the solution is there all the time but needs courage to implement. The Law says, “The referee allows play to continue until the ball is out of play if a player, in his opinion, is not seriously injured. Perhaps our Referees Committee should think about this new development in our football and suggest some changes to the Laws through our GFA. This time wasting must be stopped.