It was an embarrassing spectacle at the Baba Yara Stadium yesterday when angry fans of Asante Kotoko hooted their own players following their elimination from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League.
The angry fans had to wait at the stadium for hours after the match just to vent their spleen on the players for the abysmal performance they displayed on a day that they turned up in their numbers.
Aware of the tensed atmosphere outside, the players, management and the technical staff spent more time than usual in the dressing room before stepping out to join the team bus.
Their emergence attracted a spontaneous reaction from the fans who shouted and hooted them for disgracing them despite their unflinching support.
Some of the impatient fans hurled insults at the players and management for allowing a minnow in African football to eliminate Kotoko right in front of a massive crowd.
It took a heavy security presence to protect the players as they made their way into the awaiting bus which was surrounded by the fans.
Even as the bus took off, they chased it and continued to verbally assault them until they left the precincts of the stadium.
Some of the fans who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said they were expectant of qualification ahead of the match and that the results left them heartbroken.
“This is unacceptable. For how along are we going to suffer such painful defeat in the hands of such small clubs,” Yaw Asamoah, a disappointed fan asked.
Others also called for the removal of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the club, Nana Yaw Amponsah for failing to progress to the group stage of the competition for the second time.
They were of the view that he had been given enough time to transform the team, but had little to show for the confidence reposed in him.
