Accra (Greater Accra)
15 April 2003 - Bukhard Ziese, Head coach of the senior national team the Black
Stars, has extended invitation to eight goalkeepers to embark on a special
justify your inclusion exercise.
The exercise is meant
to select the best goalkeepers for the national team following a revelation by
the coach at a press conference last week that the team has a serious
goalkeeping problem.
According to
information chanced upon by the GNA Sports, letters have been dispatched to the
goalkeepers and their respective clubs for the exercise.
Among the eight
goalkeepers invited are Sammy Adjei and James Nanor from Hearts, Abukari
Kankani and Isaac Amoako (Obuasi Goldfields), George Owu (Kotoko) and Alex
Agyapong (Stay Cool).
Others are Issah Umar
Abubakari, a Germany based amateur goalkeeper while the goalkeeper of Ho
Voardep has also been invited. While the goalkeepers are undertaking their
exercise, the following footballers have also been asked to report at the same
time. They are Micheal Osei, Micheal Asante, Godfred Yeboah and Issac Boakye,
all from Kotoko.
The rest are Asamoah
Gyan, William Tierro, Samuel Hanson and Samuel Cudjoe all from Liberty Professionals
with Joe Tagoe of Accra Great Olympics also being invited.
GRi…/
Send your comments to
viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra)
15 April 2003 - Patrick Briggs returned 66 net to win the Achimota Golf Club
April monthly medal competition played at Achimota in Accra on Sunday.
He was followed by
Christopher Hampton with 68 net, while C. Wedderberg placed third with 70 net.
The one-day 18-hole stableford competition which was sponsored by Taysec
Constructions Limited, attracted 80 participants.
Meanwhile, Samuel
Adetola has been elected, unopposed, as the Captain of the Achimota Golf Club
to run the affairs of the club for a two-year term. He replaces Jeoff Fisher
whose term of office expired at the end of March, this year.
Other officers
elected unopposed were Mr David Martin, Vice Captain, Daniel Opoku-Mensah,
Honorary Secretary, Mr F.E. Addo, Honorary Treasurer and Miss Mona Captan, Lady
Captain.
GRi…/
Send your comments to
viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Daboase (Western
Region) 15 April 2003 - The annual western region basic schools inter-districts
under 12 soccer championship ended at Daboase at the weekend with Mpohor-Wassa
West district emerging as the champions.
The beat the host
district Mpohor-Wassa East, by a lone goal scored by outside left, Christopher
Goka within three minutes after the commencement of the first half.
Mpohor-Wassa East put in every effort to equalise but could not penetrate the
tight defence of Mpohor Wassa West. Mpohor Wassa West held on to their early lead
till half time.
On resumption, Mpohor
Wassa East redoubled their efforts and pilled up pressure on their opponents
but the water-tight defence of Wassa West foiled all their goal attempts. The
wind then turned in favour of Mpohor Wassa West who initiated a beautiful move
from the centre circle exhibiting some crisp passes that left the spectators
cheering.
Their move nearly
earned them a goal but their goal-bound ball was swiftly scooped out of the
goal posts by a defender of Mpohor Wassa East. Mpohor Wassa East realising the
dangers ahead of them, made some changes but this could not save them from
defeat.
In the semi-final
match, Jomoro district beat Ahanta West by two goals to one for the second position
while Ahanta West district also beat Shama Ahanta East district by two goals to
one for the third position. The overall best player award went to Samuel Kaku
of Nzema East district while the Goal king award went to Asiedu Apau of Wassa
West district.
Other awards include
best defender, Philip Amoako of Shama Ahanta East, Utility player Samuel
Eduaful of Ahanta West and Asiedu Apau of Wassa West collected the best
attacker award.
Joseph Quansah, Shama
Ahanta East Metropolitan director of education later presented football kits
donated by Jamkay enterprises and Sports Beat Limited, both in Takoradi, to the
award winning players.
GRi…/
Send your comments to
viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra)
15 April 2003 - LG Top Four cup holders, Kumasi Asante Kotoko would play
Liberty Professionals in a two-leg duel for this year's Sports Writers
Association of Ghana (SWAG) Nyemitei Cup.
Ebo Quansah,
President of the association, who announced this at a Press Conference in Accra
on Monday, said the first leg of the competition, which is being sponsored by
the State Insurance Company, (SIC) would be played at the Kumasi Sports Stadium
on Sunday 20 April while the second leg would be at nations Wembley, on Sunday
27 April.
The match which is
aimed at raising funds for the association, is also in the memory the late
Henry Plange Nyemitei, one-time Chairman of the Ghana Football Association, a
Patron of (SWAG) and one of the founding fathers of the SIC for his immense
contribution towards the development of football in the country.
Quansah said for
two-season running, the association was unable to organise the annual event due
to lack of sponsorship. He thanked the SIC for coming to the aid of the
association for this year's event.
The SWAG President
called on the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports to review the policy
that has made physical education in schools optional. He suggested that
Physical Education be made compulsory at the basic and secondary schools as the
first step in a long journey to recapture Ghana's lost glory in sports. He
appealed to sports writers and presenters to be more professional in their
presentation of issues to the public.
Raymond Afrifa
Yamoah, General Manager (Operations) of the SIC, was full of praise for the
late Nyemitei for his contributions towards sports development. 'Nyemitei's
contributions were particularly seen in the soccer discipline. That is why SIC
would continue to support SWAG's activities", he added.
The encounter would
be the third time Kotoko and Liberty would be meeting in the year. In both
encounters during the LG Top four tournament, the Sly Tetteh lads bowed 0-1,
0-2 on home and away basis. However, in the history of the SWAG competition,
this is the first time the two teams would be meeting as the norm has always
being between Hearts and Kotoko.
Connoisseurs of the
game are of the view that the change could largely be based on the Porcupine
Warriors current form while Liberty's' classic show in the Top Four competition
might have given them the merit of their entry.
GRi…/
Send your comments to
viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Cape Coast (Greater
Accra) 15 April 2003 - More than eleven million cedis was realised last Sunday
at the Cape Coast Town Hall during an appeal for funds organised by supporters
of Ebusua Dwarfs to support the club in its preparation for the premier
division.
Nana Kwamina Nimfa
IX, Adontenhene of Oguaa traditional area, launched the programme dubbed
"operation back to the premier". The function attracted a large
number of supporters including Muniru Arafat Nuhu, Cape Coast Municipal Chief
Executive and Nana Ato Atta, Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem district chief
executive.
Launching the
programme, on behalf of Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, Omanhene of Oguaa traditional
area, Osabarimba Kwesi Atta regretted that Cape Coast which was once the cradle
of soccer cannot boast of any premier club.
He therefore appealed
to executives of Dwarfs and Cape Coast Venomous Vipers to work hard to bring
back the teams to the elite division. He said the executives of the clubs could
achieve this objective if the people of Oguaa traditional area would sink their
political differences and contribute their widow’s mite to uplift the clubs.
Osabarimba Kwesi Atta
appealed to the executive body to show transparency in their financial
administration. He said the strength of the club would depend on funds and
urged supporters to contribute generously to the fund.
Muniru Arafat paid
tribute to the past and old players of the club and expressed optimism that
Dwarfs would qualify for the elite division. He appealed to people of Oguaa to
sink their political differences and contribute meaningfully to sustain the
club.
Nana Ato Atta
commended the performance of the playing body and urged them not to be
complacent but to train harder to qualify for the elite division. He said the
survival of any venture hinges on discipline and asked the players and
supporters to exhibit good sportsmanship during football matches.
James Yaw Ennin,
chairman of the supporters union in his welcome address said the objective of
the programme is to raise ¢100m to support the club in its preparation to the
elite division. He congratulated the executives of Cape Coast Venomous Vipers
for donating ¢500,000 to Dwarfs and hoped their gesture will go a long way to
improve the strained relations between the two clubs.
He asked supporters
to bury their differences by emulating Vipers so that supporters of the two
clubs could come together to help each other. Ennin said the programme is on
going and appealed to supporters who have not sent in their contributions to do
so.
Others who
contributed to the fund included Cape Coast Municipal Assembly, five million
cedis, Oguaa Traditional Council ¢500,000 and Nana Ato Atta district chief
executive for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem, ¢1m.
GRi…/
Send your comments to
viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Kumasi (Ashanti
Region) 15 April 2003 - Players and technical team of Kumasi Asante Kotoko may
be smiling all the way to the bank following the upward adjustment of their
respective salaries by over 100 per cent by the Interim Management Committee
(IMC) of the club.
Most of the senior
players of Kotoko who earned about ¢500,000 and below during the old
administration under Herbert Mensah, now take home salaries between ¢1.4m and
¢1.8m
A source close to the
IMC who disclosed this to the Graphic Sports in an interview indicated that,
the adjustment of the players’ salaries to such an appreciable scale is part of
the measures by the IMC to adequately motivate the players to perform above
average in both the premier league and the continental matches in the 2003
soccer season.
The source pointed
out that before the IMC was inaugurated a few months ago, followers of Kotoko
were made to believe that, they were receiving well motivated salaries “but
when we took over, we found out that the salaries of the players were not the
best to adequately motivate them to die for the club we love so much.”
The source said to
ensure that the technical bench also becomes more committed, dedicated and
devoted to the affairs of the Porcupine Warriors, the IMC has provided them
with attractive salaries. And, for a start, the technical head, Abdul Razak has
been put on a salary of about $2,500 (¢21.5m) while his assistant, Frimpong
Manso’s take home salary is not below ¢10m a month.
It said, “except that
the technical director of Kotoko, Malik Jabir would like to sacrifice part of
his earning to facilitate the development of the club, he would not earn below
$3,000 (¢25.8m) a month”.
The source said the
IMC took certain things into consideration before adjusting each of the players
salary, saying “the players earn according to the number of years they have
served Kotoko faithfully”, adding that, “so far, no player in the Kotoko’s team
receive below ¢1m a month.”
The source gave an
assurance that the IMC would regularly adjust the salary of the players saying,
“if we are to let them perform satisfactorily, then we also have to provide
them with the requisite financial motivation all the time.
It further disclosed
that, when the IMC presented the LG Top Four trophy to the Life Patron and
owner of the club, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, last week at the Manhyia Palace, they
pledged to always seek the welfare and interest of Kotoko “and we would never
renege on our pledge.”
The source assured
the numerous supporters of Kotoko that the IMC would be more transparent in all
its dealings to win the confidence of the army of fans who have contributed so
much to bring the club to the present stage.
Meanwhile, the
chairman of the IMC, Sylvester Asare Owusu, has stated categorically that
Kotoko would do everything possible to ensure that Charles Taylor plays for
Kotoko in the 2003 soccer season.
Speaking in a
telephone interview with the Graphic Sports to declare the stand of Kotoko on
the Charles Taylor’s saga, Asare Owusu stressed that, “so far, Charles Taylor
has declared his intention to feature for Kotoko in the 2003 soccer season, so
the management would pursue the matter to its logical conclusion to ensure that
the player realises his dream.
He stated that since
Taylor declared his intention to join Kotoko, the IMC has done everything
possible to negotiate with the management of Accra Hearts of Oak to release the
player, but they have refused to respond positively. He said in one of his
efforts to contact the CEO of Hearts, Thomas Okine, about the issue, the Hearts
CEO banged the telephone after he (Asare Owusu) had introduced himself and
raised the topic for discussion. – Graphic Sports
Send your comments to
viewpoint@ghanareview.com