Retired referee dies in accident
Omanhene appeals for help to complete
stadium
Africa's best on show from Real Madrid to Harrow Borough
Cape Coast (Central Region) 16 January 2002 - A Cape Coast based retired class one Referee and former Chairman of the Referees Association in the Central Region, Mr James Kodjo Nyarko died on the spot when he was knocked down by a car at Truom in Cape Coast.
Mr Nyarko who had attended communal labour in the morning at Aboom Wells, later went to Troum with a friend to have breakfast at a chop bar. On his return, a car driven by a police officer veered off the road and knocked him. The body of Mr Nyarko, who was the manager of Cape Coast Hotel, has been deposited at the district hospital for autopsy.
The Regional Motor Traffic and transport Unit Commander, Mr Thomas Tindow, confirmed the story to the GNA but declined to give details because the police were yet to visit the scene.
He said the delay was due to the fact that the people in the area had threatened to harm any police officer who would go to the scene.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Omanhene appeals for help to complete
stadium
Tepa (Ashanti Region) 16 January 2002 - Nana Adusei Atwenewah Ampem 1, Omanhene of Tepa Traditional Area in the Ahafo Ano North district of Ashanti, has appealed to the Ministry of Youth and Sports to assist the district assembly complete the 3.13 billion-cedi sports stadium it was constructing at Tepa but which had come to a stand still due to lack of funds.
He said the completion of the stadium would go a long way to unearth sports talents in the district as well as motivate sportsmen to perform creditably to merit inclusion into the various national teams.
Nana Ampem made the appeal on Monday when the District's Under 12 Soccer team presented the championship trophy they won at the just ended Ashanti Regional Basic Schools Under-12 sports festival held at Toase near Nkawie in the Atwima District.
He said lack of good sports facilities such as stadiums had been a disincentive to the youth and hindered the unearthing of talents in the rural areas. The Omanhene advised the boys to be disciplined and to take their academic work seriously adding that education and sports go together to make a person's development complete.
He presented 200,000 cedis to the team for bringing honour to the district and 30,000 cedis to Master Daniel Amoako, who was adjudged the best player of the tournament.
Mr Mathew Dememkpee Gbaarah, the District's Physical Education Organiser, thanked the Omanhene for his interest in educational matters.
He appealed to the Ministry to complete the Tepa sports stadium. The Tepa stadium project was started in November 2000 by the Assembly but was abandoned last year due to lack of funds.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Ablade Kumah in an assault case
Accra (Greater Accra) 16 January 2002 - Ablade Kumah, a former player of Accra Hearts of Oak and skipper of the bronze winning national under-23 soccer team, the Black Meteors at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona has been embroiled in an assault case when he allegedly hired a group of able-bodied men popularly called "Machomen" in Tema to manhandle one Harry Quainoo, a former student of Cape Coast Polytechnic.
Ablade who last played for the Black Stars at the 1996 African Cup of Nations in South Africa allegedly took the action to apparently teach Quainoo some "lessons" for dating his girlfriend. A Tema Community 2 police source, which confirmed the story to the GNA Sports said the case is being investigated.
The source said students of the International School of Aviation, in Tema Community 3 on Sunday dawn lodged a complaint at the station against the former international star. Subsequently, the police later arrested Ablade and his friends but they were released later to allow investigation to commence.
Another source told the GNA that Ablade Kumah has a girlfriend called Hanna Harrisson, a student of the school but the girl is also believed to be in a long-time relationship with Quainoo.
It said Ablade Kumah got to know of the relationship and angered by the turn of events, hired the machomen to attack Quainoo during one of his (Quainoo) visits at the school. Quainoo was severely beaten by the "machomen" till he collapsed and was rushed to the Tema General Hospital by some of the students, the source added.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Bamako (Mali) 16 January 2002 - The schedule for matches for the 2002 African Nations Cup finals in Mali, which start on Saturday (all times GMT):
Group A:
Saturday, January 19:
In Bamako: Mali v Liberia (March 26 stadium) (1600)
Monday, January 21:
In Bamako: Algeria v Nigeria (1600)
Thursday, January 24:
In Bamako: Mali v Nigeria (1900)
Friday, January 25:
In Bamako: Algeria v Liberia (1930)
Monday, January 28:
In Bamako: Mali v Algeria (1800)
In Mopti: Liberia v Nigeria (1800)
- - - -
Group B:
Sunday, January 20:
In Segou: Burkina Faso v South Africa (1930)
Monday, January 21:
In Segou: Ghana v Morocco (1600)
Thursday, January 24:
In Segou: Ghana v South Africa (1600)
Saturday, January 26:
In Segou: Burkina Faso v Morocco (1530)
Wednesday, January 30:
In Segou: Morocco v South Africa (1600)
In Mopti: Burkina Faso v Ghana (1600)
- - - -
Group C:
Sunday, January 20:
In Sikasso: Cameroon v DR Congo (1730)
Monday, January 21:
In Sikasso: Ivory Coast v Togo (1800)
Friday, January 25:
In Sikasso: Cameroon v Ivory Coast (1730)
Saturday, January 26:
In Sikasso: DR Congo v Togo (1730)
Tuesday, January 29:
In Sikasso: Cameroon v Togo (1600)
In Kayes: DR Congo v Ivory Coast (1600)
- - - -
Group D:
Sunday, January 20:
In Bamako: Egypt v Senegal
(Modibo Keita stadium) (1530)
Monday, January 21:
In Bamako: Tunisia v Zambia (1900)
Friday, January 25:
In Bamako: Egypt v Tunisia (1530)
Saturday, January 26:
In Bamako: Senegal v Zambia (1930)
Thursday, January 31:
In Bamako: Egypt v Zambia (1600)
In Kayes: Senegal v Tunisia (1600)
- - - -
Quarter-finals:
Sunday, February 3:
In Bamako: Winner A v Runner-up B (match 1)
(Bamako March 26 stadium) (1900)
In Kayes: Winner B v Runner-up A (match 2) (1600)
Monday, February 4:
In Sikasso: Winner C v Runner-up D (match 3) (1600)
In Bamako: Winner D v Runner-up C (match 4)
(Bamako Modibo Keita stadium) (1900)
- - - -
Semifinals:
Thursday, February 7:
In Bamako: Winner match 2 v winner match 3
(Bamako March 26 stadium) (1900)
In Bamako: Winner match 1 v winner match 4
(Bamako Modibo Keita stadium) (1600)
- - - -
Third place play-off:
Saturday, February 9:
In Mopti (1600)
- - - -
Final:
Sunday, February 10:
In Bamako: Bamako March 26 stadium (1600)
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Bamako (Mali) 16 January 2002 - African footballers will converge literally from around the world for the African Nations Cup finals, will kicks off in Mali on Saturday. The 352 players representing the 16 finalists ply their professional trade across four continents and in some of the more obscure footballing corners of the world.
Players from clubs in 42 countries have been chosen for the tournament, coming from all the major footballing countries but also destinations like Albania, India, Israel and Malta and even one from non-league football in England.
The vast majority of competitors are based outside of Africa with Cameroon and Senegal, both World Cup finalists, bringing teams exclusively made up of players on the books of clubs outside of their country's borders.
There will be one player from the Senegalese league on view - but Naricisse Yameogo is an international for Burkina Faso. A total of 75 footballers at the Nations Cup are based in France, the country that by far provides the most of the players for the African championship.
Every country, save for Egypt, South Africa and Zambia, has a French-based player in their squad, ranging from top teams like Lille, Monaco and Paris St Germain to amateur clubs in the regional leagues.
Senegal has called up 19 of its 22-squad members from France, almost all of them first division players. Germany, Belgium and Italy also provide large contingents
and there are record number of 15 English-based players at the Nations Cup including Mali's reserve goalkeeper Karamoko Keita, who plays for Harrow Borough in the Isthmian League, effectively the regional sixth division in England where Harrow's home crowds hover around the 250-mark for league games at best.
Keita could find himself playing against players from some of the world's biggest clubs too as players from the likes of Ajax Amsterdam, Manchester United, Real Madrid and European champions Bayern Munich will all be taking part.
But there are also players from SK Tirana in Albania, Sliema Wanderers of Malta and Slovan Liberec in the Czech Republic - unusual destinations indeed for African footballers.
More exotic are the clubs outside of Europe which have players on view in Mali: Teams from Angola and Niger, two African countries who did not qualify for the Nations Cup finals plus India, Mexico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the USA are represented.
Peru might even have been added to the list had Ghana's Prince Amoako not recently moved from Sporting Cristal to Saturn in Russia. Zambia have the biggest contingent of locally-based players in their squad with all but six of the 22 playing league football in their home country.
But only Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia can also boast the majority of their squad members playing with clubs in their domestic league. ASEC Abidjan from the Ivory Coast have more players than any other club at the Nations Cup finals - six in the Ivorian team and Togo's striker Kossi Noutsoudje.
Not far off that mark is Italy's Serie B outfit Genoa with four Tunisians and Ghana's John Mensah absent from the club for at least the next three weeks. Egypt's 35-year-old Hossam Hassan, formerly the world's most capped international, will be the oldest player at the finals, but is just five days older than Tunisian goalkeeper Chokri El
Ouaer.
The youngest is Togo defender Maman Gafarou from Gomido Kpalime, who turned 16 last August. He is too old, however, to break the record set two years ago by Chiva Star Nzigou of Gabon, who was 16 years, two months and 30 days old when he played for his country against South Africa in Kumasi in the first round of the 2000 edition.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com