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26.11.2008 Football News

30-Minute Blackout To Hearts-Mirren match

26.11.2008 LISTEN
By Daily Graphic

Soccer fans who paid to watch the Premier League encounter between Hearts of Oak and Sporting Mirren went through a rare ordeal of sitting in darkness for 30 minutes when the floodlights suddenly went off.

The blackout occured barely three minutes into the second half of the game and the whole stadium, with the exception of the partial illumination from the score board, was plunged into darkness ,forcing the match officials to halt the game.

But just as the match officials were beckoning the handlers of both teams to the touchline, the lights suddenly came back.

During the last Cup of Nations in Ghana, the Sekondi Sports Stadium at Essipong experienced a blackout during a match involving Mali and Benin.

According to Prince Oduro-Mensah, Chief Executive of the National Sports Council (NSC), yesterday's problem was caused by a general blackout, which was experienced in certain parts of the capital.

He told the Daily Graphic that the engineers had to fall on the standby generators to power the lights, adding that technically the device took sometime to provide full illumination.

 He noted that the engineers had to rely on the generators soon after the lights went out.

The NSC boss said what happened was due to the over-reliance on the hydro power by the organisers of the match and admitted that the extra cost of fuellling the generators was often a difficult burden for the clubs, especially when gate proceeds were low.   

Story ByAndy Quao

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