A cross section of football fans have been loud of late in their criticism of sports writers and radio sports journalists and presenters for being unduly biased in their reportage. The allegation is that many sports journalists, especially radio/TV presenters are die hard supporters of clubs and they on several occasions find it difficult to hide their biases.

One regular critic of sports journalists cited an example when a goal keeper saved a penalty in a crucial cup final. One reporter said the penalty taker shot the ball straight into the hands of the goalie. Another said the goalkeeper made a good anticipation and the third reporter simply said player B missed a penalty. Quite interesting isn’t it? This is diversity in football reporting at its best.

On Sunday June 15 Kumasi Asante Kotoko beat their arch rivals Ashgold from Obuasi 2-0 in a premier league match at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi. I would like to quote portions of reports in two state owned national dailies Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times and invite readers to compare and contrast

The Daily Graphic reporter Kwame Asare Boadu wrote ," But for some unpardonable misses at goal the Porcupine Warriors (Asante Kotoko) would have run riot over Ashgold who contributed significantly to their own defeat with a second rate performance.

Kotoko could however not be denied the second goal in the 73rd minute when a brilliant combination between Osei Kuffour and Opoku found Akwaffo who surreptitiously connected non drop past goalie Nanor.

Protests from Asgold that Akwaffo scored from an offside positioning was brushed aside by Ref Nunoo".

After reading this report I found it interesting that a player can surreptitiously score a goal.

Here you are with a Ghanaian Times report on the same match by Kingsley E. Hope. He writes "A controversial 73rd minute Francis Akwaffo’s goal and another scored by Jordan Opoku in the 28th minute were all that Kumasi Asante Kotoko needed to pay back Ashgold in their 25th week One Touch Premiership at the Baba Yara Stadium.

The Miners set an offside trap and Akwafo cleverly was caught but when he slotted the ball into the net for the second goal Accra based referee Thomas Nunoo allowed it.

Referee Nunoo who was a bundle of nerves capped his strange decisions with a red card to Owusu Sefa for a second bookable offence".

The interesting thing about the Ghanaian Times report is how Akwafo was cleverly caught by the offside trap. It is unfortunate that the referee who was a bundle of nerves was not clever enough to see the clever trap.

I am inviting readers for a discussion of these two reports so that we find out whether there is any substance in allegations that sports journalists in Ghana are biased.

Post Script. I was discussing this subject with a fellow veteran sports journalist Ebo Quansah when he reminded me of an incident that happened not too long at a cabinet meeting in Ghana. The then Vice President was reportedly knocked down in a violent confrontation with his boss and the result of the fracas was the Vice Presdient’s torn coat that was widely publicized in the private media.. The official reports from "ringsiders" in the cabinet room said it was just a gentle tap on his shoulder by the president

So what is the conclusion? Your guess is a s good as mine.