ACCRA - The 11th anniversary of Ghana's May 9 stadium disaster was commemorated here on Wednesday with a push for the ban on the sale of alcoholic drinks at stadiums.

Dr. Prince Pambo, a sports medical director with the national sports authority, who made the call at a workshop on stadium security, said most crowd troubles recorded at stadiums could be chiefly credited to football fans' intake of alcoholic stuff which impaired their sense of judgment "Promotion and sale of alcoholic beverages should be stopped at the stadium,"  he said.

Minister of Youth and Sports Clement Kofi Humado said the workshop provided a platform to evaluate the measures put in place to mitigate and avert future occurrences and disasters.

More than 127 soccer fans died on May 9, 2001, in a tragic incident at the Accra sports stadium in the capital during a local premier league match between arch rivals Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.

Police officers fired tear gas into the stands in their efforts to control rioting fans after Hearts overturned a one-goal deficit to lead 2-1, resulting in a stampede which ended the lives of 127 fans as they attempted to escape.

Hundreds more fans were seriously injured during the incident which was described by connoisseurs of the game as Africa' s worst ever stadium disaster and the world' s third.

The incident affected the overall spectatorship to premier league centers across the West African country with club officials grieving over low proceeds until the GFA employed a stadium insurance policy last year to provide cover to mitigate the losses that might arise from such incidents and create a center of attention to fans.

A Muslim prayer session for the departed souls led by National Chief Imam Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu and officials of the two clubs was held at Nima, a community within the capital, which recorded more casualties.

The ceremony was attended by government officials, soccer loving fans, administrators, and family members of the bereaved.

The national Under-20 male team (Black Satellites) was scheduled to play the national under-17 side in a friendly as part of activities to observe the event.