Barely a week after referee Kwame Kyei Andoh was physically assaulted by angry supporters in a lower division game resulting in the death of the young official, another act of violence was recorded this weekend in the week 12 of the Zone 1B of the Ghana division One League at Goaso in the Brong Ahafo Region.
Class one referee Ali Alhassan from Tamale was severely beaten, kicked around and chased across the field by irate players, fans and team officials after issuing a yellow card to a player of the home team, Unity FC in their game against Techiman City FC.
The trouble began when a Unity FC player was penalized for misconduct, after he used his hands to push a ball into the net of Techiman City in the 25th minute of the game.
The home fans who rushed to the pitch and demanded the Tamale based referee award them a goal pounced on him, seized his card and tore his dresses.
After over 15 minutes of scuffle and beatings, the referee looked physically weak with cuts and bruises told his other officials he couldn’t continue with the game but the home fans again descended on the 33-year-old official, brought him back to his feet, got the home team medics to treat him on the pitch and forced him to continue with the game.
The game was temporarily stopped for 35 minutes during which the referee tried many times to jog around in making attempts to restart play albeit very weak. Referee Ali was visibly limping throughout the game till he managed to finish the match which the home team won by 1-0.
Despite the presence of 5 police officers on duty, fans of Unity FC managed to scale the inner perimeter and attacked the referee in the full glare of Ghana Football Association Ethics committee chairman Nana Adjei Ampofo, who doubles as the owner and bankroller of Unity FC.