Sports journalist appeals to coaches hunt for talent in the North
The Queen's Baton begins its journey on
March 11
Accra (Greater Accra) 04 March 2002 - The professional League Board (PLB), Organisers of the local premier league are scheduled to have final talks with the Ghana Brewery Limited (GBL) on the abrogation of their renewable five year contract in Accra on Monday. Ghana Brewery said it could not continue with the ˘800 million renewable contract because of low profit.
Mr Sylvester Mensah, Chairman of the PLB, told the GNA Sports that today's talks are aimed at trying to reach a compromise or seek compensation from the company, which increased its sponsorship package, by 400 million cedis last soccer season.
The meeting was scheduled for last Friday but was put off apparently because the Ghana Football Association were meeting in connection with the abortive Champion of Champions match between Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko last Sunday.
Mr Mensah said if the deal was unable to go through, it would be a big blow to the country's league, which was scheduled to kick-start by March ending. He said he would not want to pre-empt the outcome of the meeting but expressed optimism that an acceptable settlement could be reached.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 March 2002 - Thousands of football fans encountered one of their biggest disappointment moments when on the eleventh hour the much tooted Super Cup match between arch rivals Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko slated for last Sunday took a swipe, being called off.
The Sports Ministry, according to a statement signed by the Deputy Youth and Sports Minister, Mr Joe Aggrey, considered the Accra Sports Stadium, the venue for the match unsafe after a final security check on Saturday afternoon. Officials of Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak say they got the information at about 5.00 pm on Saturday.
Whiles Kotoko arrived in the nation’s capital from their home base, Kumasi, four days to the match, Hearts had been in camp for more than a week for final brush ups. Mr Herbert Mensah reacted angrily to the postponement of the match and blamed the FA for this state of affairs. Both clubs intend to put in some claims for the preparatory expenses.
“They should have hinted us long ago when they realised the match was not coming off and not to wait until the eleventh hour as if we don’t matter in their scheme of things.” These were the fuming words of Kwame Adarkwa (and that of many), a 36-year old Kumasi-based Hearts of Oak fan who travelled to Accra on Saturday night in the hope of watching the Champion of Champions duel. He was informed at the Stadium on Sunday afternoon that the match had been postponed.
However, a source at the National Sports Council (NSC), expatiating on the cancellation said since the North Wing of the Stadium from where 126 people had died last May, would be closed to fans during the match, an unbearable pressure was likely to be exerted on the other stands “and this could result in another catastrophe.” On that score, the NSC officially believes the cancellation of the high-profile encounter was in the right direction.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 March 2002 - Basketball coaches and managers have been urged to hunt for talents in the three Northern Regions in a bid to get the sport on a high level.
Mr Emmanuel Amoako, veteran journalist and Secretary of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) made the appeal when he performed the closing session of a weeklong top eight-basketball tournament at the Lebanon Houses in Accra.
Latex Foam Company Limited producers of Honeymoon mattress sponsored the event. He called for more sponsors to inject more enthusiasm into the sport and said more international honours could be won if more emphasis was put into the sport.
In the final match, which produced a lot of thrills, Braves of CEPS beat Shepherds of Tema by 58-45 baskets. The scores were tight in the first three quarters as inaccurate dunking cost both sides many baskets. But in the last quarter, which was manly, Braves produced last minute effort and spirited play to earn the verdict following usage of positive free throws.
Mr Peter Kportugbe, Chairman of the Basketball Association presented the trophy and cash to the winning team. Reformers of Prisons placed third. Mr G. Vanderpuige a member of the association announced that Tropic Oil would soon sponsor the top-six clubs at the same venue.
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The Queen's Baton begins its journey on
March 11
Coolum (Australia) 04 March 2002 - The centre piece of British Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee celebrations is the XVII (27th) Commonwealth Games to be held in Manchester from July 25-August 4. The Queen's Jubilee Baton Relay which would carry the Queen's message to formally usher in the games, would begin its record-breaking journey to 22 Commonwealth countries, from the Buckingham Palace in London on Commonwealth Day, March 11, and travel for the first time to all six regions of the world - Africa, The Caribbean, The Americas, Europe, Oceania and Asia.
A statement issued at the on-going Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Coolum, Australia on Sunday, quoted the Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Mr Michael Fennell as saying " The Baton a shinning symbol of the modern Commonwealth of Nations, carries within it the Queen's message to all Commonwealth territories and calls on the Commonwealth's best athletes to come together in world class competition in Manchester next July for a festival of sport. The Queen's Jubilee Baton Relay will be the most extensive Relay ever staged and symbolises a bringing together of the world through sport".
It said Cadbury is the Presenting Partner for the Queen's Jubilee Baton Relay, which would travel for four months finishing at the Games Opening ceremony on July 25 when the Queen would read out the message. Being organised by M2002 Limited, the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth games would host more than 5,000 athletes and officials including elite athletes with a disability, coaches and officials from 72 nations across 17 different sports.
The Manchester Games are the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the United Kingdom (UK). Manchester City Council, the Government and Sport England, which have invested 170 million pounds sterling of lottery funding for sports facilities are funding it, which would be used by the people of Manchester for future generations.
To date, 135 million pounds sterling of lottery investment has been allocated to provide world-class facilities for use during the Games. In addition to this, Sport England is also providing extra 30 million pounds sterling.
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