The Accra Basketball League (ABL) playoffs between defending champions Reformers of Prisons and Braves of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) came to an abrupt end following a power outage at the Prisons basketball court in Cantonment, Accra on Saturday.
Braves won the first playoff and went into the second, hoping to secure a second win to be crowned champions of the division by virtue of winning two out of the three scheduled games.
The second game started on a bright note with Braves taking a six-point lead (48-42) in the fourth quarter with about seven minutes to go when the match was interrupted.
The Director of the Greater Accra Basketball League (GABL) and Vice President of the Ghana Basketball Association (GBA), Mr Alex Kukula, explained that the game was initially interrupted by a heavy downpour which lasted for about 15 minutes.
But just when the players warmed up for the game to continue, the lights went off suddenly with efforts to get electricians to fix it was unsuccessful.
According to Mr Kukula, the development led to accusations directed at the Prisons officers who were suspected to have orchestrated the power outage.
“Braves felt very aggrieved since the game was in their hands and Prisons deliberately switched off the light so that the match would not continue,” he stated.
“I can’t agree or disagree with the people saying the power cut was deliberate because there was no proof to support it although the circumstances under which the outage came was strange.”
He said the ABL has commenced investigations to find out whether it was a genuine problem or was man-made.
He called for calm among officials and players of both teams as the ABL investigate the matter before taking a decision.
BY MICHAEL D. ABAYATEYE