The Deputy Director General of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Alhaji Abdul Majeed Bawa, has asserted betting addicts vandalised the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi, Ashanti Region.

He spoke to Asempa FM, based in Accra.

“They destroyed, they threw missiles and all manner of things onto the pitch. That one too, is it caused by the NSA? They destroyed the pitch panels there. I have videos of all of them. I was taking videos because that’s all I could do,” Bawa said.

“We have to fix and correct all these things.”

Alhaji Bawa asserted, “And I believe these things are happening by the young guys who are addicted to betting. Honestly, that is my feeling because those people who were doing those things, they are all young guys.”

“Throwing missiles because we lost. I believe they would not have done that if we [Ghana] had won,” he noted, revealing: “After the tension subsided, you ask them [young Ghanaian supporters] and they were saying they [Black Stars] disappointed them and they [supporters] have lost. They’ve lost not because Ghana has lost o, but they lost a bet.”

| Deputy Director General of the National Sports Authority (NSA) Alhaji Abdul Majeed Bawa

On Thursday, September 5, 2024, Ghana’s Black Stars lost to Angola’s Palancas Negras 1:0, ending a 24-year unbeaten home record at the Baba Yara Stadium.

With this poor start in their AFCON 2025 qualifying campaign, Ghana would have to do better against Niger in their second match on Monday, September 9.