Management of Asante Kotoko are urging the fans of the club to refrain from engaging in violent conduct and any form of misbehaviour that will hinder the progress of the club in their upcoming game against rivals Hearts of Oak.
Some irate fans of the club who were disgusted by referee E.R Biney’s handling of proceedings when the team played Hearts of Lions in a First Capital Plus Premier league encounter on March 26.
The incident, which occurred at the Baba Yara Stadium, saw fans hurl missiles at the match officials during and after the game. The unruly behaviour attracted an indefinite ban on the use of the venue by the Executive committee of the Ghana Football Association pending hearing by the FA’s disciplinary committee.
The team have since been slapped with a two match ban by the disciplinary committee which the club has already served which means that they get to play their second leg encounter against old rivals Hearts of Oak in front of their home fans on June 1.
Being a fixture that holds vivid images and memories of the repercussions of crowd violence on May 9, 2001, Operations Manager George Kennedy says the ban has had hard hitting effects on and off the pitch.
“We are playing our next game against Hearts of Oak at Baba Yara so we are just appealing to them not to repeat the conduct that has cost us to play home matches away.
“During the duration of the ban it cost us not less than 5000 Ghana Cedis we have had to move all over the place, it has stretched our financial resources and physically it has created a lot of fatigue in the team which has resulted our three consecutive defeats.
“I am pleading with the supporters of the club to refrain from such acts and rather leave the handling of such issues to club management in future to enable the proper processes to be implemented in addressing such situations,” he told Citi Sports.
The Porcupine Warriors won the first leg against the Phobians by a lone goal at the Accra Sports Stadium and need a win from their remaining three games to defend their league crown.
