GRi Sports 30 -
01 - 2003
Nigerian World Cup Committee meets Minister
Accra (Greater Accra) 30 January 2003 - A 10-man Nigerian 2010 World Cup Bid Committee chaired by former
national soccer star, Segun Odegbami,
met with Youth and Sports Minister, Edward Osei-Kwaku
in Accra on Wednesday to formally solicit Ghana's support and endorsement to
co-host the mundial.
Three other West African
countries- Togo, Benin and Cameroon- have been roped into the novel
idea which according to Odegbami is to fulfil FIFA's philosophy of the Goal project. Under the Goal
project, FIFA gives money to less endowed football nations to develop the game.
Odegbami said Nigeria, which is the main host, would
have four venues while the four other countries would have a venue each. He said, what Nigeria has done so far is to indicate
to FIFA her intension to co-host the mundial with her
fellow West African countries but added that the bidding committee would
formally write to the world Football governing body by 30 April this year.
As part of the arrangements, the
Nigerian Sports Minister shall host his other four colleague ministers in Lagos on either February 7th
or 8th, to discuss into details the bid document and to iron out any
difference if any. "There shall be only one organising committee which
shall be made up of representatives from all the other four countries; and the
name shall be Nigerian World Cup", Odegbami
said.
But Osei-Kwaku
indicated that there is the need for the name to embrace the other countries
especially Ghana; an idea which Odegbami said would be iron out at the meeting. The former
Nigerian star said the uniqueness of the bid is to showcase the simplicity and
hospitality of the West African countries.
Osei-Kwaku
assured the Nigerians of Ghana's support to make the dream a reality. He said Ghana's intension to host the 2008
African Nations Cup "will make us more than ready to be part of this
bid".
The team later presented a
simplified document on the intended bid to the minister. The team departs for Cameroon on Thursday.
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Black Stars match put off
Accra (Greater Accra) 30 January 2003 - The Ghana-Nigeria international friendly soccer return match
scheduled for the Main Bowl Surulere National Stadium
in Lagos this Sunday, has been postponed to 16 February.
Sources at the Ghana Football
Association (GNA) told the GNA Sports on Wednesday that the Super Eagles have
already booked a date with Costa Rica this weekend and would
therefore not be able to honour the engagement with Ghana. The Black Stars lost the first
encounter 1-2 at the Accra Sports Stadium in December last year.
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NGO presents AIDS T-Shirts to Black Stars
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 30 January
2003 - Players of the Senior National team, the Black Stars, have been called
upon to help kick the deadly disease AIDS out of the country.
Emmanuel Shaft Boamah, Executive Director of New Page Partners, a
Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) based in Kumasi who made the call told the
players that the pandemic was closer to them than they think.
Speaking at the presentation of
AIDS T-Shirts to the team before their friendly international match against
their Beninois counter-parts in Kumasi on Sunday, Boamah
therefore asked the players to resolve not to engage in indiscriminate sexual
activities.
As the window of hope of the nation
in terms of football, your sexual lives must be exemplary for other to emulate.
Coach E.K. Afranie,
caretaker coach of the stars, told the players that if they wanted to remain in
football, which is a full time profession, then they should refrain from
indiscriminate sex. He said the rigours of professional football meant that
players should not only be very disciplined off the
field where they could easily exposed to many temptations, but they needed
physical fitness to be able to cope with the game.
Coach Afranie
said the pandemic therefore posed a great challenge to sportsmen and women
since the more sexual activities they indulged in, the weaker they would
become.
Hamza Mohammed, who received the
T-Shirts on behalf of his colleagues, thanked the donors for the kind gesture
and said they had taken the advice seriously.
He said they were very much
aware that as role models the younger crop of players looked up to them for
inspiration and gave the assurance that they had accepted the challenge to
refrain from indiscriminate sex so as to save themselves and their career.
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Sports Council to meet retired Sports administrators
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 January 2003 - The National Sports Council (NSC) is inviting all retired senior
officers of the council to a meeting at the Resource Centre of the council on
Wednesday 5 February.
A statement signed by the
Charles Aryeh, Head of Public Relations of the NSC said the meeting is in line
with the council's policy direction of tapping the wealth of experience of such
sports administrators who have, in the recent past, contributed immensely to
the development of Sports in the country.
He said the meeting would also
be used to discuss the proposed retired senior Staff association to be formed
under the auspices of the council. Some of the members expected to attend the
meeting are Messrs Joe Lartey, Joe Kwarteng, A.K Abotsi,
S K Hlodze, Teye Botchway, Goerge Dasoberi, George Dramani and
Nelson Ofori.
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Alberta Sackey makes history as Africa’s
best
Accra (Greater Accra) January 2003 - Alberta Sackey
of Ghana is on the verge of becoming the first Ghanaian
woman to win the prestigious African Footballer of the year award for 2002.
This is because Alberta is the only nominee for the
position as the names of the various contenders for the annual awards were
released in South Africa on Tuesday.
The Youth Development Award is
also standing in the name of the Ghana Football Association as the only
nominee.
The following are nominees for
the annual African soccer awards, to be held on April 1:
Footballer of the Year: El Hadji Ousseynou Diouf (Liverpool and Senegal), Pape
Bouba Diop (Lens and Senegal), Ahmed Hossam
(Ajax Amsterdam and Egypt)
Young player of the Year: Ahmed Hossam (Ajax Amsterdam and Egypt), Steven Pienaar
(Ajax Amsterdam and South Africa), Kolo
Toure (Arsenal and Ivory Coast)
Goalkeeper of the Year: Essam Al Hadarin (Egypt), Alioum Boukar (Cameroon), Tony
Sylva (Senegal) Coach of the Year: Luis Oscar Fullone
(Wydad Casablanca, Morocco), Bruno Metsu (Senegal), Idrissa Traore (ASEC Abidjan, Ivory Coast)
Club of the year: JS Kabylie (Algeria), Wydad
Casablanca (Morocco), Zamalek
(Egypt) Team of the year: Cameroon, Senegal, Nigeria's women's team African
Champions League best player: Walid Abdellatif (Zamalek), Hicham Aboucherouane (Raja
Casablanca, Morocco), Abdoulaye Djire
(ASEC Abidjan, Ivory Coast)
Best goal (televised): Abdelhalim Ali (Zamalek, Egypt v Costa do Sol), Abdelouahed Abdessamad (Raja
Casablanca, Morocco v Jeanne d'Arc), Henri Camara (Senegal v Sweden), Pape
Bouba Diop (Senegal v Uruguay), Mfanzile Dlamini (Swaziland v Namibia)
Women's Footballer of the Year: Alberta Sackey
(Ghana); Youth Development Award: Ghana Football Association Merit
Achievement Award: Mwade Wade (Senegal).
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