Ghana keep stadium disaster memorial low key

Events to mark the first anniversary of the death of 130 people at the Accra Sports Stadium will be low key so as not to reopen old wounds, top sports ministry officials told AFP here on Wednesday.

"It was agreed to keep the memorial a little quiet so as not to bring back the pains and trauma we all felt when everything went wrong on that fateful day," said Joe Aggrey, minister of state in the sports ministry. The local press has also been quiet about the one year anniversary of the tragedy for the same reason.

"This is not something to celebrate and so there is no reason to bring back the sad memories of that Black Wednesday to the whole of Ghana," argued Felix Abayateye, editor of Graphic Sports, a bi-weekly sports paper.

However, Aggrey said Ghana have learnt very useful lessons as a result of Africa's worst stadium disaster. "We have obviously learnt a lot from the disaster," he said.

"In the first place, the involvement of the police in football matches has been streamlined. They caused the stampede by over-reacting. Again, the fans too are now better behaved because they have seen what violence can lead to," he added.

"The sports administrators also now know that football is a very emotional thing and every precaution has to be taken to ensure the safety of those in the stadium."

Football matches have not been staged at night again since the May 9 incident while perimeter fences at stadiums around the country have been kept on even though world soccer governing body FIFA has outlawed such structures.

A friendly match between bitter rivals Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko planned for last week Sunday was called off after Hearts pulled out in protest over what they termed as the panel of inquiry's failure to blame Kotoko fans for the tragedy of May 9.

Those who died during the stadium disaster would however be remembered at midweek league matches with players observing a minute's silence before kick-off and also wearing black armbands.

An inter-faith memorial service will take place at the Accra Stadium Thursday after which a monument will be unveiled in memory of those who lost their lives after fans went on rampage after Hearts beat Kotoko in a league game.