GHALCA to the aid
of division one clubs
Black Stars must
reverse downward trend
John Teye School makes forays into sports
One of the attractive pairings
is the encounter between exciting King Solomon against beleaguered Tudu Mighty Jets. The well-built boys of Solomon have
showed some class in their previous matches and playing against Jets who have
starting putting the pieces together in Zone 3A could simply be mouth-watering
at the
Ade Coker's A.C Olympiakos
would be seeking to recover from a steep disciplinary action taken against them
by the GFA for fielding an unqualified player when they come up against Akwatia Diamond Stars at the Ho Park. Great Afienya United would sort it out with Alhaji Bimbo's Midtjilland at the
Seven United and Real Sportive
face each other in an all Tema affair at the Tema Sports Stadium to round it up
in Zone 3A. Arch rivals Iron Fighters and Swedru All Blacks would open the
encounter in Zone 2B when they clash at the
The game between Sekondi Eleven Wise and Odupong
Stars at the
Gold Stars look favourite against Kaaseman at the
Kumasi Sports Stadium, Krofrom versus GAG Roos, Sarmartex lock horns with
White Eagles at Pretea and
Zone 3B league leaders Hearts of
Lions who suffered their fist defeat last week play Khalid
in
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GHALCA to
the aid of division one clubs
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 January
2003 - The Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) has pledged to come to the
aid of cash strapped division one clubs participating in this year's novelty to
league following pleas made to them by the Ghana Football Association (GFA).
Addressing the annual congress
of the association in
He said before the start of the
season, the GFA management committee made an appeal to Ghalca
to help alleviate the burden on the clubs by paying the referee and match
commissioners in order for the clubs to use the limited gate proceeds on their
teams.
Appiah said they are aware that
the GFA has already paid 80 million cedis as fees for the referees and the
match commissioners. "We intend giving ours to the clubs and in this
direction we have already ordered the Professional League Board (PLB) to make
available the clubs our share of the gate proceeds from the last year's premier
league."
He said the association last
year recorded very low inflow of cash from one of its traditional sources of
funding, which is the transfer of player outside the country.
Appiah attributed the shortfall
to a new system under which clubs claim to loans their players to foreign clubs
when in fact such players were transferred. He asked teams adopting this
negative attitude to remember that they are depriving the nation off funds for
the development of the game.
Appiah said last year the Ghalca assisted premier league clubs by giving each of them
20 million cedis to help them prepare for the just ended season. He said the
association also responded to an approach by the PLB to erect an inner
perimeter fence for the Koforidua stadium at a cost of ¢60m of which they have
been able to recovered only ¢5m.
He assured congress that the
National Sports Council, custodians of the facility, has promised to pay the
balance in full after receiving their budgetary allocation for this year. He
warned premier league sides to desist from ticket deals since such bad
practises erode the confidence reposed in the "home team take all"
policy saying this would not be tolerated in the coming season.
Appiah congratulated the
management, technical staff and players of Accra Hearts of Oaks Sporting Club
Limited for winning the premier league for the sixth unprecedented time. On
Kotoko, he said even though they narrowly failed to win the CAF Cup Winners Cup
trophy they did not disgrace the nation.
He expressed the hope that the
two giants of
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo Region)
Manu's call was contained in a
letter to the DCE dated
B.A. United F/C.
The Federation of International
Football Association (FIFA), the world football governing body to which the
Ghana Football Association (GFA) is an affiliated member frowns seriously at
any sort of interferences from Government in football matters.
The Deputy Accra Representative
of the Club referred the DCE to a letter by the Life Patron of United, Nana Bosoma Asor Nkrawiri
11, who is also the Omanhene of Sunyani Traditional
Area dated 5 January 2003 dissolving the Board of Directors of the Club, for
allegedly "deviating and arrogating to itself powers that were not
conferred on the Board".
The Life Patron's letter which
was copied to the National Secretariat of the GFA,.also extended the mandate of the club's Chief
Executive Kingsley Osei Bonsu and his management by
two more years. The GFA, Manu noted, on January 15, 2003," recognizing the
position of the Life Patron and the very crucial role he plays in the running
of B.A. United immediately acknowledged receipt of the letter" and assured
Nana that the contents of his letter were well noted.
Manu said if for any reason a
person or group of persons felt aggrieved with the development in the Club, the
GFA's Regulations had enough provisions and
constitutional avenues for such persons to seek redress, he contended. He
referred to the recent internal wrangling in the club and said if the decision
of the DCE was to avert a possible disturbances, then
that decision should have rather been passed through the Life Patron to
influence him to work within the ambit of the GFA's
Regulation in restoring order in the Club.
Manu said under the GFA's Article 39, Paragraph One, Clauses (a) and (d) Baffour-Awuah erred in his action. Under these
circumstances, the IMC so formed can not have the blessing of the GFA in anyway
and for that matter would not be able to function, Manu pointed out.
Manu however stated that his
insistence for the DCE to use the proper procedure to resolve football matters
as laid down by the football governing bodies, both local and International
does not in anyway suggest that Baffour-Awuah must
shelve his primary responsibility as provided in the constitution of the
Republic of Ghana to maintain law and order within the District and more
especially in Sunyani town where B.A. United FC is based.
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Black Stars
must reverse downward trend
By Daniel Kenu
The image of the once power
house of African football -Black Stars- has sunk so low to the extent that even
minnows like Burundi and Liberia face Ghana with little or no respect. Burundi
is well remembered for her shock 1-0 over the Stars, which eventually derailed
Ghana's qualification for the 1994 World Cup, and just last year, Liberia
stormed Accra to demolish the Stars 3-0, sending the country crashing out of a
World Cup debut in Japan/Korea.
Earlier in the same year,
The two sides are billed to
clash in a return friendly leg at the Main Bowl Surulere
Stadium this Sunday in what promises to be a fierce image-redeeming battle for Afranie. The coach is one of the four short-listed for the
Stars top job and perhaps, would like to use Sunday's match to convince the
authorities why he should be preferred to the other three contenders.
Afranie's hope seems to have been raised
with the indication of skipper Stephen Appiah to feature for the stars. Also,
the likes of Baffour Gyan,
Michael Essien and Anthony Obodai
are willing to foot their own airfares for the trip in what analysts see as in
solidarity with the helmsman.
This, and against the backdrop
of the team's 3-0 victory over Benin last Sunday at the Kumasi Sports Stadium
could steer both the indigenous players and the handlers to avenge that painful
2-1 shock defeat last December. But is this going to be an easy task.
The Super Eagles, aware that
they could be rough-handled should they lose in Surulere,
will make sure to avoid any blunder - this and of course the usual non-stop
brass-band music by the partisan fans could throw the game wide open. These
factors not withstanding, the Stars must do all they can to shoot the Eagles
down for two main reasons: to salvage the country's sinking image and to save
the coach from further criticisms. Meanwhile, the team is scheduled to leave
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For starters, the school has
engaged the services of former
Coach Aduakwa
guided the school to place third among seven schools describing the feat as a
"positive impact". He explained that in terms of facilities, "we
have all the courts in handball, basketball, badminton, volleyball in addition
to a multi-purpose court". Football, he added, is receiving serious
attention as a new pitch is under construction.
"Most of the students are
boarders and this enables us train collectively for longer hours and ensures
intimate coaching," Coach Aduakwa said. We don't
have many problems because some credible sponsors among our Parent-Teacher
Association as well as patrons are eager to assist us in our build-up," he
intimated.
Coach Aduakwa
paid tribute to the basketball association, table tennis and handball
associations for "valued" assistance offered to enhance training.
Meanwhile, the school has started aerobic classes for 11-13 year olds and will
be performing on Ghana Television.
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