By: Maltiti Sayida Sadick
The Ghana Police Service has arrested Coach Napari Suheiru who beat to a pulp, a female referee in a Division 1B game. In the past two months, some referees have been assaulted by irate fans and other sports officials at various match venues across the country with the latest being the beating up of a female referee in Tamale by coach of Tiyumba FC club, Coach Mohammed popularly called “Kubli”.
This adds to previous ones that happened in the Bono, Ashanti and Eastern regions and now Tamale.
In the case of the female referee assaulted in Tamale this week, the said assaulter according to the victim’s own account stomped the pitch in the middle of the game and swept her off her feet, kicking her stomach and plummeting her head severally as she battled to escape the punches.
Referee Nasara after being rushed to the hospital was discharged the next day and is home recuperating.
Speaking to Maltiti Sayida Sadick on GTV Breakfast Sports, Physical Fitness Trainer of the Referees Association of Ghana National, Dr. Anthony Tetteh-Opai said, it is difficult to even get women to become referees and hooliganism perpetrators have been going unpunished, being what seems to spur others on.
The Physical fitness trainer added that currently the body is firmly pursuing about 4 cases in court concerning assault of their personnel. He said there are laid down rules and guidelines by GFA, CAF and FIFA on how to seek redress to grievances instead of the use of violence or physical attack.
Dr. Anthony Tetteh-Opai said the IGP, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare had met with the GFA president Kurt Okraku, and the Director General of the National Sports Authority, Professor Peter Twumasi on beefing up security for the local leagues.
On the issues of referees taking bribes to engage in match fixing, he said once a referee is named in a bribery scandal they are removed from the league immediately, citing about seventy six referees who were sacked after the Number 12 expose by investigative Journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas of Tiger eye PI.