The North Wing side of the Accra Sports Stadium, the stand at which over 126 soccer fans perished in the horrific May 9 incident would be closed to spectators if the 2001 Star Premier League resumes on Sunday, May 27.

This fiat would be operational until the badly damaged railings lining the stairwells at the stand popularly referred to as the 'Ade Coker stand' are repaired, Brigadier George Brocke, Acting Chief Executive of the National Sports Council (NSC), managers of the stadium property has disclosed. This decision was reached at a meeting attended by officials of the NSC, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA), he stressed when he testified before the Presidential Commission investigating the fatal incident yesterday.

He said the decision to resume the league would depend on how soon a cleansing ceremony to be performed at the "disaster scene" by representatives of religious organisations is done. The over ?700 million sponsored league was suspended by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) following the incident triggered by volleys of teargas tossed into the stands by police personnel in a knee-jerk effort to control rowdy fans.

126 fans who had come to witness a league match between Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak, two leading club sides in the country, were crushed to death following the stampede that ensued. The Commission moved its sittings albeit temporarily to the stadium apparently to benefit from a first hand appraisal of the events that triggered the firing of the tear gas and the eventual fatal stampede that followed.

It was also to afford the Commission the opportunity to interview some officials of the NSC whose testimony had become necessary following earlier evidence that had touched on the roles and functions they played that fateful day. The Commission is chaired by Mr.

Samuel Okudzeto, a legal luminary and former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA). Members of the Commission are Prof.

(Mrs) Akua Kuenyehia, a lecturer at the Law Faculty, University of Ghana, Prof. Ofosu-Amaah, former director of te Special Branch and Prof.

Agyeman-Badu Akosah, President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and head of Pathology, Korlebu Hospital. The other member is Mr. Ken Bediako, a veteran journalist and the acting editor of the Statesman, an independent bi- weekly. Asked where he was when the incident happened, he told the Commission he was watching the UEFA semi-final match between Bayern Munich of Germany and Real Madrid of Spain.

According to him he was informed about the incident by the Public Relations Officer of the NSC. "I was told by my PRO that people had been trapped at the stairwells of the stand," he said.

Continuing he said, he called the offices of the Fire Service, General Headquarters, Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the Police Hospital for ambulances. Brocke said even though the phone of the latter went through no one picked it.

Subsequently, he said he drove to the police hospital where he was told ambulances had already been dispatched to the scene. He said he only visited the scene of the tragedy after he had done all these rounds.

Earlier in the day, three persons, Mr. Harry Zakkour, the Chief Executive of Accra Hearts of Oak, Mr. Daniel Otchere Nyanor, Estate Officer of the NSC and Mr. James Kofi Aggrey, Acting Chief Administration Officer of the NSC made their appearance before the Commission.