Ghana Football Legend Doudo Ankrah, in an interview with Ghana’s number one Sports Station Happy FM has opened up on what transpired in the car accident involving Real Republicans Football Club 57 years ago which also led to Baba Yara retiring from football at a very younger age.
The Real Republicans Football Club was formed by Dr Kwame Nkrumah in the 1960’s.
The team was returning from Kpandu after a league match with Volta Heroes when the bus in which they were traveling ran into a ditch, as a result of which Baba Yara, the “King of Wingers” sustained a spine injury.
Eyewitness account indicates, the 23-seater bus skidded off the road in a curve on a slippery road and hit an embankment. Yara, seated near the door, was thrown out of the bus and he might have been trampled by his colleagues in the stampede to get out of the bus.
Doudo Ankrah in an interview revealed what actually happened on that day.
“After the game we had an accident on a way back home. Our bus fell into a ditch. The accident was serious. A lot of players got injured. Baba Yara was also in the bus. He was sitting at the back of the driver”.
“When the accident happened, some of the people who came to watch the game were able to identify some of us and convey us to the hospital. We were taken to the Ho Governmental Hospital for treatment”.
He stated that Baba Yara sustained the spin injury which ended his career because of how he was brought out of the vehicle.
“The way they pulled him (Baba Yara) under the chair was what resulted into him getting the spin injury.
“If experts were around to help Baba YARA shouldn’t have gotten the spine injury”.
“About nine Black Stars players were in that team they played for the Republicans. It was a sad day for Ghana”.
The Kumasi Sports Stadium was named after Baba Yara for his immense contribution to sports in the country in the 1960’s
By Herbert Boakye Yiadom