Ghana has commemorated the 24th anniversary of one of Africa’s darkest sporting tragedies with a solemn ceremony at Accra Sports Stadium.
The May 9th Stadium Disaster, which claimed 127 lives in 2001, remains the worst stadium tragedy in Ghana’s history and one of several fatal incidents that rocked African football that year.
Family members joined football administrators and government officials on Friday to lay wreaths at the stadium’s memorial monument, as they have done annually since the disaster.
The tragedy occurred during a Premier League match between fierce rivals Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko, when police fired tear gas into crowds following disturbances, triggering a deadly stampede.
Ghana’s Minister for Youth and Sports, Hon. Kofi Adams, used his keynote address to emphasise the government’s ongoing commitment to stadium safety.
“We must continue to improve our sporting infrastructure and ensure proper crowd management systems are in place across all our venues,” he said.
Ghana Football Association President Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku described the disaster as a “harrowing moment” in the nation’s sporting history and stressed that prevention remains the most meaningful tribute to those who perished.
“The best way to honour those we lost is to ensure that it never happens again,” he told attendees. “Through enhanced infrastructure, robust regulations, and our renewed focus on fan safety, we are working hard to prevent a repeat of this tragic event.”
African football’s year of tragedy
The Accra disaster was part of a devastating sequence of stadium tragedies that struck African football in 2001.
Just one month earlier, on 11 April, 43 people died at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, when overcrowding at a derby match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates led to a fatal crush.
The African football community faced further heartbreak on 29 July, when a stadium disaster in Ivory Coast claimed 8 lives as fans attempted to enter an already overcrowded Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan during a World Cup qualifier against Mali.
By year’s end, nearly 200 football supporters had lost their lives at African stadiums, prompting FIFA to launch a continental stadium safety initiative in 2002.
Samuel Inkoom, a former Ghana international who attended the ceremony, said: “These tragedies forced African football to confront serious questions about spectator safety. The lessons learned have been painful, but necessary.”
“Never again”
At Friday’s ceremony, representatives from both Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko delivered messages of solidarity. The event concluded with traditional prayers and the laying of wreaths by dignitaries including the Sports Minister, the GFA President, and representatives of both clubs.
Yaw Ampofo Ankrah, Director-General of Ghana’s National Sports Authority, reiterated the commitment to maintaining safety standards at sporting venues nationwide.
“May 9th stands as a permanent reminder of our collective responsibility,” he said. “The message remains clear – this must never happen again.”
Ghana has significantly improved its stadium safety protocols since 2001, with mandatory safety officers at all Premier League venues and regular evacuation drills now standard practice.
The ceremony also acknowledged the recent loss of an Asante Kotoko supporter in Nsoatre, with calls for justice from football authorities.
As dusk fell over the stadium, family members of victims remained at the memorial, some clutching photographs of loved ones lost on that tragic day 24 years ago.
