May 9 Disaster: Improved infrastructure has helped address security issues- GFA President

Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kurt Okraku believes there is a lot more to be done in the area of protection for supporters at game venues.

He said this on the sidelines of the commemorative event at the Accra Sports Stadium to mark the 23^rd Anniversary of the May 9 Disaster that claimed the lives of over 120 people.

On May 9, 2001, some fans of Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak died from a stampede at the Accra Stadium in one of Africa’s worst stadium disasters.

Despite acknowledging that there is a lot that needs to be done to ensure utmost safety at game venues, he believes there have been improvements in this area.

“The GFA obviously relying on our internal governance structure has improved a lot on our club licensing strategy which obviously makes demands on members to provide adequate security and to behave in a certain way.”

“Overtime, I would confidently say that we have improved alongside improvement in physical stadia facilities and this has greatly helped but there is a lot to be done.”

The GFA President said this at the event attended by Minister of Sports Mustapha Ussif.