As most pundits, connoisseurs and book-makers have said – I totally agree with their assertion that, this seasons Glo Premier League (GPL) could be equated to the South-African ABSA Premier League and the Egyptian Premier League, hence, making it one of the best on the continent.
No wonder the wheels of the league spun at a top speed till the final week before it settled on a winner. And for the relegated clubs, they even had hope on the ‘D’ day that, they could escape relegation considering their point build-up.
Nonetheless, it also recoded some comical events in its course which I couldn’t control myself from laughing. That is exactly what this piece is centered around. To highlight some of those events so we can learn some lessons from them.
Kindly have a seat so you could calm your nerves as I take you through them.
Treatment of injuries
The question here is-how humorous is this? We witnessed a league where ordinary water became the remedy for every injury that occurred on the pitch whereas energy drinks were substituted for pain killers.
In my quest to unravel the mystery behind the use of pain killers at the expense of energy drinks the answers I had from some players all tilted towards one angle ‘it’s effectiveness.’ According to them, if they chew them prior to a game it gives them extra energy.
Again, I remember in one of the league games that I couldn’t go to the stadium so had to monitor proceedings on the screen, a player persistently complained of dazing and the only remedy to that effect was to give him water to wash his face, rinse his mouth and to drink some. The power of Ghanaian water!
In a game which I represented fully, a player fell and held his head after a corner kick; surprisingly, the supposed medic of his club rushed onto the pitch and immediately began massaging his foot.
I will only single out Asante Kotoko who had a qualified medic in the person of Dr. Kweku Boateng on their bench whenever they were involved in action, but for the others the least said the better.
Post Match Interviews With Players
During an interview session a player is supposed to respond to questions put to him by an interviewee, however, in this instance something unimaginable was introduced.
After a tiring league game at the Accra Sports Stadium which I won’t mention names, one of Metro TV’s journalists approached a player and before he could begin his interview the player shockingly began responding to apparently no question.
It seemed he knew already what the journalist would be asking so had to respond quickly to save them time. Seriously I couldn’t hold myself from laughing.
On the other side, it was either God or a super natural power somewhere responsible for their performance, no tactical or realistic answers were provided.
Attitude of Security Officers
‘Goooal Oh Shit!’ This was the exact reaction of a policeman at the Wa Park when Nti Boakye of Asante Kotoko wasted a goal scoring opportunity against Wa All Stars.
His reaction triggered the anger of the Wa All Stars supporters, who vehemently hooted and threw insults at the policemen. After the game, I tried to see if I could fish-him-out and believe you me, he was nowhere to be found.
Similarly, I spotted some security officers joyously clapping when Hearts’ goal poacher Mahatma Otoo scored a hat-trick against Real Tamale United at Tamale. It doesn’t happen anywhere.
The only difference between the security officers and the supporters was that, the securities were in uniforms whilst the supporters weren’t. Contrary to that, they all had clubs vis-à-vis favorite players and were all supporting.
These were just two of the many.
Berekum Arsenals in London-based Arsenals’ jerseys
One would ask, why jerseys? Very sad! In this era when football has become business with clubs raising money from sponsorships and advertisements, I expected Berekum Arsenals to have learnt from the likes of Kotoko, Medeama, Edubiase and co. who made money from sponsorships and advertisements.
Evidentially, these clubs soled the spaces in front of their jerseys to some cooperate organizations for money to respectively run their clubs.
But an experienced club like Berekum Arsenals decided to go in for replicated jerseys of English-based Arsenals which had Flying Emirate, their headline sponsors boldly inscribed in front.
Berekum Arsenals as a club obviously became a Good Samaritan therefore did adverts for the Qatari Airline without any agreed amount. Bizarre right?
As if that was not enough, the jerseys even had the logo of English-based Arsenals embroidered vividly in both the shirts and shorts preventing them from embroidering theirs on it.
RTU’s Performance
30 games, 2 points, 73 goals-against, 19 goals-for, no win. That was the fruit of Real Tamale United’s labour when the wheels of the league rested on the 30th week.
A search through my archives reveal that this record was unprecedented in the history of Ghana football.
Right from the word go ‘Esere Mu Sere Gyata’ as they are referred to, were dragged in the mire to the slaughter house and there, every club been it big or small, young or old came with its arsenal and had a portion of them.
A club that could pay for the services of an expatriate manager a Spanish to be precise but couldn’t pay players salaries ranging between GHC 100.00 and GHC 80.00.
Even at a time when relegated clubs hadn’t been decided, their players publicly threw in the towel, saying they will be demoted, yet, their management and technical brains believed they would escape relegation. Very funny!
They finally became a laughing stock when they fielded an unqualified player in one of their games, causing them to lose six points from their hard earned eight points; leaving them with only two points.
Conclusion
The fact that they are presented as been comical doesn’t mean they should end there, the various bodies mandated to see to the success of the league should ensure that each and everyone associated with it performs his or her duties professionally as it’s done elsewhere.
By: Shiva Oppong Banahene/A1radioonline.com/Ghana
