Ghana football witnessed one of its embarrassing moments at the Tema Park on Sunday afternoon as match officials had to shout to make substitution in the Ghana Premier League clash between Tema Youth and Medeama SC following the absence of a substitution board.
Fourth official Prosper Adii was handed the difficult task of shouting like an ambitious ring announcer in a boxing bout whenever the teams wanted to effect a substitution.
Sadly, the embarrassment did not only end on the field of play as the game was televised live on television for both local and international viewers.
The eye-popping scenario does not show any sign of improving as the same situation was witnessed during the 2017 MTN FA Cup matches between Emmanuel City FC and Young Wise as well as the game between True Democracy and Zein FC at the same venue a week ago.
Authorities at the facility were tight-lipped on the canker but further checks by Ghanasoccernet on the availability of a substitution board revealed a defunct board in the dressing room of the referees which was clearly calling for repairs.
The match officials after the game insisted they had no option than to resort to the primitive shouting technique of substitution as they found the substitution board in the dressing room not functioning.
“There was nothing we could do. The game had to be played and the absence of the substitution board couldn’t have stopped the game. So we had to shout the names of the players on the field to come out.
“At some point, we need to pass messages from the nearest player to the one to be substituted,” one of the officials said with a troubled tone.
Information gathered by Ghanasoccernet from other quarters was that the substitution board has not been working for over two months and match officials at the Tema Park have to use the obsolete shouting method for substitution in previous matches as authorities at the venue are not bothered about the situation.
“This is a very embarrassing thing. You show a game on TV and there is no substitution board? What is the professionalism about the league? a troubled spectator questioned.
The game which ended in a 1-1 stalemate saw fans of both teams leaving the venue unsatisfied with many describing the absence of the substitution board as ignominiously demeaning.
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