Police, GFA discuss sports security

The Ghana Police Service as part of its Proactive Preventive Policing Strategy, on Friday 5th November, 2021 met with the Executive members of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and officials of all the 18 Premier League clubs at the Police Headquarters, in Accra.

The engagement was aimed at identifying peculiar challenges associated with sports security in Ghana with the aim of addressing same.

Leading the discussion was the President of the GFA, Mr. Kurt Edwin Simon Okraku. Concerns raised at the meeting included, inadequate number of police personnel deployed for stadium duties, lack of CCTV cameras in the stadia, hooliganism, lack of prosecution of sports-related crimes, narcotic use by spectators during matches and the management of stadium gates.

Irregularities in sports betting and how it affects the integrity of games, match-fixing as well as the need for a dedicated Police Unit for sporting activities were also highlighted.

“We have an opportunity to take football policing very seriously. In other established jurisdictions we have sports policing units. This tells you how important sports policing is, since football controls the hearts of millions of people,” Mr Okraku said.

“I would be extremely happy if our new IGP and the leadership of the Police Service would also venture into creating a sports policing unit within the Police Service. That will help us a lot in the forward march of our football development.”

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare and some members of the Police Management Board (POMAB) responded to the concerns raised and gave the assurance that the Police Service was determined to guarantee the safety of spectators, match officials, players and other patrons at all football games in the country.

The IGP therefore urged all present to do their part by resolving any internal issues that have the potential to disturb the peace before, during and after matches.

He also indicated the establishment of a Joint Implementation Taskforce comprising representatives from the Police, the GFA and the clubs to work towards resolving the concerns raised at the meeting.