Retired Referee Alex Quartey on Hearts – Kotoko Matches : Former Ghana Premier League referee Alex Quartey says the easiest matches to officiate in the country are Hearts of Oak games contrary to other opinion that meetings between the two biggest clubs in the country are the hardest to handle.
Quartey was voted SWAG Referee of Year record five times
“For me the easiest matches to handle are Hearts of Oak and Kotoko matches. You just have to apply the rules of the game. Mistakes are there but as a referee I always made sure I knew what I was doing on the pitch.” , Alex Quartey said in an interview with Kumasi-based Fox FM.
“Some people think Hearts and Kotoko matches are difficult but their games are very easy to handle. You can handle it well if you don’t allow the big men to influence you and then you apply the laws of the game. The players too are mature and everyone wants the public to see them play well” , he added.
Matches between the two biggest football clubs in the country has always been tense.
It is unfortunate to recall that the Accra Sport Stadium disaster occurred at the Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra, Ghana on May 9, 2001.
It took the lives of 126 people, making it the worst stadium disaster to have ever taken place in Africa. It is also the third-deadliest disaster in the history of association football behind the Estadio Nacional disaster and Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster.
Ghana’s two most successful football teams played that day, Accra Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko. Officials were anticipating crowd disturbances, and had taken extra security measures. Accra scored two late goals, and a referee called 2–1 Accra, resulting in disappointed Kotoko fans throwing plastic seats and bottles onto the pitch.
The police responded by firing tear gas into the crowd. Panic and a stampede ensued as fans tried to escape. Gates were locked and the stadium’s compromised design left a bottleneck, with fewer exits than originally planned.
The Ghana Institute of Architects called the stadium a “death trap.” After the hour-long ordeal, it was found that 116 deaths resulted from compressive asphyxia and 10 fans died from trauma.
Ghana Football Association President Kurt Okraku recently admitted that the association still faces refereeing and coaching challenges.
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