Ishmael Addo, Osei Kuffour return to Hearts
‘Mr Ghana’ contest fixed for September
Ghanaian cyclists impress at Cote D'Ivoire
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 June 2002 - Accra Hearts of Oak’s determination to raise the bar of excellence in domestic football with an unparalleled sixth consecutive premier league title has been given a shot in the arm with the club signing on four new players, including Ishmael Addo.
Hearts completed their recruitment for the season last Friday by adding Emmanuel Osei Kuffour, William Gbedzeke and Togolese Farouk Coubadja to their roster. The Phobians even bolstered their youth side, Auroras, with 14 new players as Henry Commodore, Louis Agyeman and Addokwei Addo. Last Sunday, Hearts introduced Gbedzeke against Asante Kotoko and the young man made a good impression in his debut.
However, it is the presence of the striking duo of Addo and Kuffour that will gladden their follower, as well as put their rivals on red alert. Addo has returned home after a short stint with French side, Bastia, while Kuffour has not played competitive football since Ghana crashed out of the 2002 Nations Cup.
During their three-year romance with the Phobians, the two strikers brought the club their only continental success as well as three back-to-back league titles. Addo also attained the enviable heights of winning the goalking crown three years running.
The return of Addo and Kuffour would even strengthen Herbert Addo’s team further and put them in a good stead to retain the league title. Hearts are unbeaten this season and are comfortably on top of the league table with seven points adrift of their nearest rivals, Kotoko. Hearts’ playmaker, Charles Taylor, currently leads the goalking race with 12 goals followed closely by team-mate Bernard Don Bortey with seven goals.
Meanwhile, information reaching the Ghana Review International Sports indicates that Kumasi Asante Kotoko have managed to secure the services of CAN 2002 Cup of Nations hero Isaac Boakye. The former Goldfields player had hoped to pursue a professional career overseas after the Africa cup but with the deals proving elusive, he has decided to settle with the Porcupine Warriors.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 25 June 2002 - Mr Ben Koufie, chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) said he is not happy with the lack of competition in the premier league which has reached the half way mark. In an exclusive interview on Thursday Mr Koufie said the trend where two clubs tear away from the rest early in the league deprives it of the necessary competition, which would make it more interesting and competitive.
Accra Hearts of Oak are on top of the standings with maximum 42 points from 14 matches and are followed by Kumasi Asante Kotoko on 35 points, while the third placed team Liberty Professionals are on 22 points. He said, "the way the league is going is not good for Ghana football.
"There must be real competition before a winner emerges and that will keep the excitement alive." Mr Koufie hoped the two-way traffic would cease as the season enters the second phase. Asked if the two most glamorous clubs of Ghana football haven’t over registered talents to warm their benches instead of being available to other clubs to make the league championship go to the wire, the chairman said that could be the factor.
He said though he does not like the situation where clubs are allowed to register as many players as they could, he could not do anything about it as it is the prerogative of the GFA Congress to legislate in that direction. "Personally, I don't like the situation where clubs register some good players and dump them on the bench while others need their services. Congress will have to think about that," he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Koufie described media reports that he was under the treat of impeachment by the Executive Council as a figment of the imagination of the authors of the story. He regretted those who peddled it did not deem it expedient to approach him to authenticate the report before splashing it on the pages of newspapers. The chairman views the report as a ploy by his detractors to destroy his image as no meeting had been convened and there was no controversy about anything to warrant such a move.
"Maybe they wanted to use me to sell their newspaper, he added. It was in media circles that that the Executive Council of the GFA had scheduled a meeting for last Wednesday where an impeachment procedure would begin against Mr Koufie because of the way he voted at the just concluded FIFA Congress where Sepp Blatter rode over Issah Hayatou to retain the FIFA presidency.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 25 June 2002 - The ‘Mr Ghana’ contest, a bodybuilding sporting discipline which offers a platform for young Ghanaian men to exhibit their huge biceps, triceps and other parts of their well-contoured solid body, would take place in September this year at the National Theatre.
The actual date is, however, yet to be agreed upon by the Bodybuilders and Weightlifters Association of Ghana (BWAG) and the "Body Trading Gym", organisers of this year's contest.
Mr Osei Adumako, Chairman of BWAG told the GNA Sports in Accra that even though the itinerary has not been finalised, his outfit together with Body Trading Gym located at Cantonments, Accra are optimistic that this year's contest would surpass all others.
He hinted that plans are afoot to ensure that the top three winners participate in the world event slated for the United States of America later in the year. "At the moment, our focus is on the Commonwealth games which is coming off in July. We can only finalised our programme after the games in Manchester," Mr Adumako told the GNA.
He said for the first time, Ghana would be contesting in weightlifting at the games, which is being represented by Amorkor Ollenu King, a Ghanaian female weightlifter based in the US and rated 10th in the world and Albert Abochie, former bodybuilder. The Chairman expressed optimism about Ghana winning at least a medal in the division which, he said, could serve as a morale boosters for the young ones.
The Mr Ghana contest (also known as Mr Flex) has been surrounded with controversies in recent times over winners, yet, it remained one of the attractive sports to the youth. The sport itself has been around for sometime, but was popularised by students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in the early 1990s. And now it has become even more popular because of names like Dallas (Richard Eshun) and Martin Luther King. Some of the past winners of the contest include, Joe Finger, Dallas, Luther King, Nsafoa and Edward Darko.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 25 June 2002 - Cycling may be regarded as one of the lesser sporting disciplines under the National Sports Council (NSC), but could become one of Ghana's title hopefuls in future competitions.
This is epitomised in the various successes that Ghanaian cyclists have chalked in recent times under the Ghana Cycling Association (GCA), with support from Wonder Food Company Limited, producers of Cowbell Milk. On Tuesday, the Ghana cycling team, made up of 12 cyclists arrived in the country to a hero's welcome after an impressive performance in the 16th La Route de L'est in neighbouring Cote D'Ivoire.
Mr Francis Kpesenu, Secretary General of the GCA told GNA Sports in Accra on Thursday that the boys won eight trophies and two gold medals at the end of the two-week tournament. Rudolph Mensah and Joseph Annan won two of the important "Stages", which gave Ghana the two gold.
Mr Kpesenu said Mensah also won two trophies at a stage and a fair-play trophy while Annan again emerged as the best "Stranger" in addition to what he won at the stage. Ghana's medal hopeful, John Zormelo, who was outstanding during the national Cowbell competition and further performed creditably during the Tour du Togo, could only manage a fair play trophy while Martey Hammond also won bronze at a Stage.
In all, 56 cyclists from Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and host Cote D'Ivoire took part in the 1051.5 Kilometre-race, which started from Katiola to Bondoukou though 12 stages.
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