Emma Kuffour, Duah pay for stranded supporters

Bamako (Mali) -- Two members of the Black Stars who crushed out of the 23rd African Cup of Nations in Mali played the Good Samaritan when they donated a total of 300 dollars to the Sports Supporters of Ghana (SSOG) who are stranded in Bamako, Mali.

Captain of the Stars, Emmanuel Osei Kuffuor gave them 100 dollars while Portugal based Emmanuel Duah(in pic) parted with 200 dollars. The donations were made at the Bamako International Airport, Senou, before the Stars’ departure on Tuesday when the plight of the supporters was conveyed to the players by Nii Lantey Vanderpuje, a Radio Ghana commentator who was scheduled to leave on the same flight with the Stars.

The supporters who were transported to Mali by Mr James Yalley on a Ghana Private Road Transport Union GPRTU bus are stranded because they could not afford fuel for the bus, which was given to them free of charge by the GPRTU.

Mr Yalley, leader of the 60-member group said he has no money to fuel the bus back home as was the agreement between him and the GPRTU. Under the circumstances, he approached Mr Ben Koufie, Chairman of the Ghana Football Association for assistance but the FA boss said the association was not economically buoyant enough to assist him.

The supporters' leader also made a representation to the Chief Director of the Ministry of Youth and Sports who told him that he had no mandate from Ghana to dispense with 1000 dollars, which Mr Yalley was asking for. The group's final expectation fizzled out when they failed to hear from Colonel George Minyila (rtd), Ghana's Ambassador to Burkina Faso with oversight responsibility in Mali, who they had contacted earlier when the Ambassador visited Bamako to assess the level of injury inflicted on three of the supporters by Burkinabe fans after the Stars match with the Stallions in Mopti.

Mr Yalley said he had relayed SSOG's predicament to the Ambassador and even though he had promised to react positively to their demand when he arrived at his base in Ouagadougou, he has not heard from him. Consequently, he approached Mr Vanderpuje who rallied Ghanaian journalists in Bamako to appeal to the players through skipper Kuffour, leading to the donation.

The SSOG had arrived in Mali with a maxi bag of gari and shito, which have been their main meal since reaching the Malian city of Mopti, where the Black Stars had been hosted alongside Group B teams in the CAN 2002. Two members of the group suffered knife injuries when they were attacked by militant Burkinabe supporters after the Stars had sent the Stallions home with a 2-1 victory in the last preliminary match at Mopti.

Ironically, Mr Yalley had launched his drive to convey 200 supporters to Mali to cheer the Black Stars at the tournament at a wildly publicized press conference in Accra. He even promised he would take two members nominated by each of the 22 players to the competition as a motivation for the players.