Last week at the Kumasi stadium, the Black stars of Ghana put up a display that has not been seen in Ghana for a long time and walloped minnows Lesotho by 7 goals.

I disagree with all those who say we should take it with a pinch of salt because Lesotho are minnows. Yes I agree we should not be swollen headed but I don’t agree that we should take the result with a pinch of salt because even in the days of players who we think were better than today’s players, we have seen the black stars struggle and lose against teams that were known to be minnows.

The likes of Liberia, sierra Leone, Sudan and Ethiopia have all given us scares before so I say kudos to the Black Stars. At 3 nil I was watching to see what Kwesi Appiah’s team will do because I know for sure that a Serbian coach would have straight away gone into defensive mode and would not have allowed the boys to express themselves.

Not Kwesi and that is a typical Ghanaian coach. He allowed the boys to flow and enjoy themselves to the extent that Akamenko came all the way to head home the final nail.

I love the way he also introduced Christian Atsu who is already touted as the ‘Ayigbe Messi’ for his dribbling skills. I think that is how the Serbian coaches should have introduced Jordan into the team.

Luckily for Jordan, he has Abedi at home to continue giving him some coaching lessons and so did not lose confidence. Any other kid would have lost total confidence being introduced into the deep end of the team and flopping at some instances.

I like the way Kwesi has started but of course his test is Zambia and Sudan away and then the next phase of the qualifiers where I think only the winners of the 5 groups will qualify for the world cup proper.

So the flood lights went down for about 80 minutes or so and there was so much speculation as to what was going to happen and the impact of us not being able to complete the game.

I am not so upset that the lights went and I shudder to think of what happens at the offices of all those who were criticizing so much. Guys, these things are machines and failures happen. Backups even fail as well so much as it was bad and disgraceful to the nation, I will not be so critical at those responsible. We have seen flood lights fail at European cup games so it happens.

We can start a journey with a perfect car in good condition and something will just go wrong even though everything has been checked and in order.

The flood lights worked for the best part of 50 minutes so every check indicated that the thing was working so why are we being so critical.

Of course I agree that the technicians should have been right there on hand but that does not mean that we should go criticizing everybody. I am sure those criticizing are radio people, bankers, lawyers etc. Nothing goes wrong at their work place?

I did some research into the implications  if we had not finished the match as there was a lot of speculation and I am reproducing the relevant section of the rules and regulations of the 2014 world cup. This is not the general rules of FIFA but it is only specific to the world cup 2014 and nothing else so please do not misconstrue it to be the general rules of FIFA.

It is the General Provisions, Article 6 Regulations 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil ^TM

Withdrawal, Unplayed matches and abandoned Matches

1.       All participating member associations undertake to play all their matches until eliminated from the FIFA World cup.

2.       Any association that withdraws between preliminary draw and the start of the preliminary competition is liable to a fine of CHF 20,000. Any association that withdraws after the start of the preliminary competition is liable to a fine of CHF 40,000.

3.       Any association that withdraws no later than 30 days before the start of the final competition shall be fined between a minimum of CHF 250,000 and a maximum of CHF 500,000. Any association that withdraws less than 30 days before the start of the final competition or during the final competition itself shall be fined between a minimum of CHF 500,000 and a maximum of CHF 1,000,000

4.       Depending on the circumstances of the withdrawal, the FIFA disciplinary committee may impose sanctions in addition to those provided for in par 2 and 3 above, including the suspension of the association concerned from subsequent FIFA competitions

5.       Any match which is not played or which is abandoned except in cases of force majeure recognized by FIFA organizing committee – may lead to the imposition of sanctions against the relevant associations by the FIFA disciplinary committee in accordance with the FIFA disciplinary code. In such cases the FIFA disciplinary committee may also order the match to be replayed

6.       Any association that withdraws or whose behavior is liable for a match not being played or being abandoned may be ordered by the FIFA organizing committee to reimburse the FIFA, the organizing association or any other participating member association for any expenses incurred as a result of its behavior. In such cases, the association concerned may also be ordered by the FIFA organizing committee to pay compensation for any damages incurred by FIFA the organizing association or any other participating member association. The association in question will also forfeit any claim to financial remuneration from FIFA

7.       If an association withdraws or a match cannot be played or abandoned, as a result of the force majeure, the FIFA organizing committee shall decide on the matter at its sole discretion and take whatever action is deemed necessary. If a match is not played or is abandoned as a result of force majeure, the FIFA organizing committee may in particular order a replay.

So the question is, was the flood light failure force majeure? I don’t think so and I think the matter would have gone to the disciplinary committee for the appropriate sanctions.

However this particular provision does not determine exactly what the sanctions would have been.

Anyway we thank God the match was played and I am sure in the future more measures will be put in place to ensure no such thing happens or if it happens, we can restore in a shorter period.

I still remain your true red fabulous aficionado.

Kotoko Beku Me.