The Chairperson of the Safety and Security Committee at the Ghana Football Association (GFA), DCOP Lydia Donkor, says football fan Nana Pooley was not stabbed at the stadium during last weekend’s unfortunate incident.
The Asante Kotoko fan lost his life in a tragic incident during the Porcupine Warriors’ defeat to Nsoatreman at the Nana Koromansah II Stadium on matchday 19 of the Ghana Premier League.
Eyewitness accounts since the incident suggested that the passionate fan was stabbed at the stadium.
However, DCOP Donkor, who is leading the investigation, has revealed that the stabbing did not occur at the match venue.
“This unfortunate incident [the fan’s stabbing] didn’t happen inside the stadium. It happened outside, and he was picked up by a tricycle and dropped at that section of the stadium,” she said on JoySports Link on Saturday, February 8.
“I have to clarify this because there are all kinds of comments about how the police allowed someone to enter the stadium with a knife. Let me emphasize that the police have a strict search regime.
“At least, that is something I discuss with my various commanders, and we insist on it. There’s a strict search regime. When you’re coming into the stadium, we search everybody entering.”
DCOP Donkor also urged clubs and individuals to report threats to the police, stating that authorities were not informed of any dangers concerning Nana Pooley.
“The best advice I can give now is that if he had any genuine concerns [about threats to his life], he could have approached the police or informed someone in the area so that the police would be aware,” she continued.
“We had to conduct investigations. We’ve been to the scene, gathered our evidence, and reviewed everything.”
So far, the Ghana Police Service has arrested six people in connection with the stabbing, with two, including former Sunyani West MP Ignatius Baffour Awuah, being granted bail.
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