A cloud over Accra Sports Stadium (Features)

23/11/11
Published 5/12/11

A cloud over Accra Sports Stadium (FEATURES)

STORY: Zoe Darling

Waves of cheering, shouting and chanting flow across the crowd, while the screech of countless vuvuzela pierce the air. The constant thrum of bongos and maracas provides a backdrop for the entirety of the 90 minute football match. Accra Hearts of Oak fans belt out their club anthem, while Asante Kotoko supporters sing equally as loud, both sides frantically waving their flags and brandishing banners and other paraphernalia. The cries of ‘pure water!’ and ‘fan ice!’ are even more common inside Accra Sports Stadium than on the streets of the city, a feat I didn’t think possible. The stadium is full to the brim, with few seats vacant and the energy and excitement of the crowd more than making up for any absences.

It is an atmosphere that I have never experienced before. Football matches are exciting anywhere in the world, but the atmosphere present in Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday for the much anticipated clash between Accra Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko Football Clubs was enthusiasm to a greater extent.

Then the game begins. If possible, the crowd lifts even further. Two minutes in, we see the first stretcher taken onto the field for an injured player. It is an occurrence the crowd is accustomed to, and we see the stretcher emerge several more times throughout the match. Unnecessary? Maybe. Over-acting? Probably.

Despite this, the game continues but with little to report. There are no goals scored, a disappointment for both teams. Probably the most exciting point of the match is when, unhappy with a referee call, supporters start hurling water bottles, rubbish and anything else that comes to hand onto the field. Unluckily, one of the players is in the line of fire and gets pelted with the debris, but the carnage doesn’t stop. Eventually the police get called in, and trot across the field with their batons. The flying rubbish eases, but not before the damage is done.

 Meanwhile, fights are breaking out between disgruntled and over-excited fans. The more sensible members of the crowd hold back those that appear to be eager for a brawl. Eventually, this too subsides and the crowd returns to its seats, once again happily chanting and singing as the game continues. Quarrels, arguments and disagreements, especially over referee calls, are to be expected at any football match and often even add to the atmosphere. For a game of the scale seen on Sunday, it was positive to see, in general, a very well behaved and united crowd.

There was, however, one cloud that hung over the stadium on Sunday. It was a cloud of smoke, smelling very strongly of marijuana. And the many members of the crowd participating in the taking of drugs showed no signs of discretion as they passed around their joints. At one point I was even offered one, and when I politely declined, my donor seemed quite disappointed.

The prevalence of the illegal drug among supporters insider Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday makes me wonder firstly, how it is allowed through the gates, and secondly, why it goes unnoticed or ignored by officials inside the stadium. The smell of marijuana is not exactly hard to miss. At an event as prominent as an Oaks versus Kotoko match, I would have thoughy security would be much tighter. I was, after all, searched and man-handled by two separate security officers as I came through the turnstiles. What are they searching for if it’s not the illegal stuff? A tightening of security, it seems, is highly necessary.

The experience of a football match in Ghana was exciting, fun and eye-opening, despite the cloud of smoke and lack of goal scoring. Hopefully next time I will witness the enthusiasm of the crowd when a goal is scored.