GRi Sports 31 - 03 - 2003
Hearts subdue stubborn Power F/C
Kotoko calm on Taylor saga
Olympics assures supporters, confirms Afranie
Post Ladies win GAWSOC gala
Akira wins Tema Golf Monthly Medal
Kpobi wins Francophonie Marathon
Diverse opinions on
Osei-Kwaku's exit
Hearts subdue stubborn Power F/C
Accra (Greater Accra)
31 March 2003 - Accra Hearts of Oak struggled to subdue Power F/C when they met
in a friendly at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.
The first half ended
goalless but it was the electricity boys who enjoyed more possession and
threatened the champion club on three occasions but Mutala Amando, Serfa
Boateng and Dennis Odum froze in front of goal and let the Phobians off the
hook.
Early in the second
half, Mohammed Bello who was the pillar in the Power defence was ejected for a
second bookable offence but Hearts failed to make use of their numerical
advantage until the 78th. Wisdom Abbey broke the deadlock when he
scored from six metres and the goal seemed to whet the appetite of the Phobians
who pressed hard looking for more.
Returnee Mohammed
Hassan toed a shot over the bar on 81 minutes but Adjah Tetteh sealed the doom
of Power on 90 minutes when he finished off a Dan Quaye move.
In a post match
interview with the GNA Sports, coach Hebert Addo of Hearts attributed the
lethargic performance of his team to the numerous injury problems they have. He
said he has mapped out plans for his players to regain form as soon as possible
and hoped those on the sick list would recover early in readiness for Africa.
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Kotoko calm on Taylor saga
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 March 2003 - After dining and wining on cloud
nine following the news of Charles Taylor’s recruitment, supporters of Kumasi
Asante Kotoko felt totally deflated when the news broke out last Thursday that
the mercurial performer is on his way to Europe to pursue a professional
career.
“Another Don Bortey?” one fan queried, referring to a similar story
involving Bernard Don Bortey two seasons ago when the Hearts of Oak offensive
star surfaced in Kumasi and declared to the whole world his new love for Kotoko
only to collect a few millions of cedis and return to Accra, never to be seen
in Kumasi.
There was great euphoria in Kumasi last week when Charles Taylor pitched
camp at the Kotoko training ground. The Management of Hearts, however, were
unequivocal in their stance that they would never release Taylor under any
circumstance since he had a contractual obligation with them for the next three
years.
But it was becoming increasingly clear to the Hearts fraternity that
Taylor was unwilling to don the rainbow colours again. Hearts had to be smart.
And they had the men to do the thinking. Taylor has been promised a deal in
Sweden and is expected to leave any moment from now. But he first has to prove
himself in Sweden as nothing is certain.
Meanwhile, the Management of Kotoko remain calm in the face of the
obvious disappointment. They still harbour the belief that Taylor, tired of
justifiers, will stay in Ghana and play for them. How they wish to achieve that
is unclear since Hearts have made no secret their intentions to prevent him
from playing for any other club than Hears in Ghana.
The purported contract between Taylor and his ‘manager’ Jonathan
Laryear, which empowers the latter to be present at any contractual dealing
with the player has been described as bogus and a nullity since the said
Jonathan is neither a GFA nor FIFA agent. But the question has been asked as to
why Hearts decided to deal with him in the first place three seasons ago when
he was no FIFA agent.
Meanwhile, Charles
Taylor drew cheers from fans at the Accra Sports Stadium when he appeared at
the Accra Sports Stadium during a friendly match between the Accra club and
Power F/C.
Dressed in a pair of
faded jeans trousers and a skin-tight leopard skin nylon tunic top, the player
arrived the stadium at about 3:30 pm in the company of Isaac Tetteh, Managing
Director of T.T. Brothers. Six hefty looking men who appeared to be security
operatives accompanied them as they took their seats at the Upper Terrace soon
after arrival.
After about a quarter
of an hour in the stands, during which spectators shouted his name and cheered
in appreciation of his return, Tetteh led Taylor into the inner perimeter where
he met and fraternised with his colleagues who were warming up for the match.
Taylor chattered with
Tommy Okine, Chief Executive of Hearts and Steve Akwettey who showed signs of
excitement at the return of the 'prodigal striker.' The SWAG player of the year
moved freely thereafter when he realised that his security was not in doubt as
rumours spread that he would be a second half substitute.
Mr Tetteh told the
GNA Sports that he decided to send Taylor to the stadium to end speculations
about his departure from Hearts, adding that as a staunch Hearts supporter, he
felt obliged to render a little bit of service to the club by guaranteeing that
Taylor remains with the team.
He said he persuaded
the striker to play in the match against Power and even though the technical
team agreed to feature him and the player too was willing to play, there were
no kits he could use, hence his absence from the match.
Coach Hebert Addo who
appeared happy about the return of his most prized player however said, "Taylor did not return because he did
not go anywhere."
Hearts and Kotoko
have been tugging each other within the last fortnight over Charles Taylor.
While the Accra team claims the 'Sefwi Pele' has a valid contract with them,
Kotoko are reported to have made him sign 'something in Kumasi' and promised
him 400 million cedis, a brand new V.W. Golf car and free accommodation if he
joined them.
Taylor had been absent
at Hearts' training since he played below expectation in the L.G. Top 4
tournament in Kumasi where Kotoko beat Hearts 2-0. He also failed to make an
appearance in the return leg in Accra as Hearts missed begging chances and the
match ended in a barren draw.
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Olympics assures supporters, confirms Afranie
Accra (Greater Accra)
31 March 2003 - The management of Accra Great Olympics has assured supporters
of the 'Wonder Club' that they would do everything possible to turn the
fortunes of the club around in the coming season.
Speaking to the GNA
Sports on Friday, Richard Oblitei Solomon, chairman of the management committee
said the resolve of management to challenge for the league trophy next season
informed their decision to hire former national team coach, Emmanuel Kwesi
Afranie on a one year renewable contract.
He said coach Afranie
was a senior coach, with a lot of experience, who had identified the problems
of the team during the just ended L.G. Top 4 competition and has promised to
file the blunt edges and make them super sharp during the league.
The chairman said the
coach was very pleased with the offer and promised to use his marriage with
Olympics to prove a point about his professional competence and terminate the
phenomenal two-horse race, which had become synonymous with the premier league.
Solomon said the
coach assured them that the quality of players the club has is good enough to
enable them "to be either the first or with the first" if discipline
could be instilled in all aspects of the game and has pledged to spearhead the
crusade.
He said in order to
complement the efforts of the coach, management has decided to add a few potent
front liners to the team to end the goal drought, which plagued the club in the
L.G. tournament, adding that the team has renewed its romance with striker J.B.
Danquah in that direction.
"We shall also
rectify the errors at the back to reduce the number of goals the team concedes
and it would involve the reorientation of all our goalkeepers and the use of
combative ball players in the midfield."
The chairman implored
supporters of the club to remain steadfast in their patronage as a new dawn of
triumph and success was approaching in the history of Accra Great Olympics.
"I have no ill feelings against the supporters, not even against those who
accosted me at the stadium. I expected a verbal assault but not a physical one
and I must indeed give credit to the Ghana Police Service for the way they
organised our security."
Solomon believed the
circumstances, which led to the confrontation between him and the supporters
would not reoccur 'because there will no longer be any instance when we shall
lose six matches on the trot' to incense our supporters to behave the way they
did.
On the finances of
the club, the chairman said his team primes transparency and accountability and
would soon make the financial figures public when the audited account is ready.
Corroborating the
claims of the chairman, Joe Boye Commodore, Finance Officer of Great Olympics
said while the club netted about ˘300m last season, it expended over ˘883m.
Robert Fletcher Dzoleto, a management member said the difference in the income
and expenditure account was made up by contributions from members of the
management committee and Perry Doku, a director of the club.
In apparent reference
to the section of supporters who called for the heads of management members
during the L.G. Top 4 tournament, Dzoleto said, 'Let whoever that is interested
know that running Olympics is not a matter of life and death. It is service to
the Olympics family.
While appealing to
the supporters to rally behind the club by attending matches, the chairman said,
'we are not going to kill to stay at the helm of affairs. We love the club and
all we want to do is to get it back on its feet and make it great again. Also
present at interview were Stephen Adjei Nmashie and Emmanuel Nii Ankrah Ankrah,
both members of the management committee.
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Post Ladies win GAWSOC gala
Accra (Greater Accra)
31 March 2003 - Post Ladies on Saturday defeated defending champions Ghatel
Ladies of Accra one nil to win this year's Greater Accra Women Soccer gala
played at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Post, who are fast
establishing themselves as a parallel force to Ghatel when it comes to women’s
soccer in the country registered the only goal in the first of the
twenty-minute game. The winners looked more purposeful than their complacent
opponents and shot straight into action at the blast of the whistle.
They went ahead
through Joyce Tweneboah, when she capitalised on a misunderstanding between
Ghatels' goalkeeper, Gladys Anti and her defenders. The early goal unsettled
Ghatel and gave Post the needed confidence to carry the game to their
opponents, as veterans Patience Sackey and ace striker Nana Ama Gyamfua
persisted in the one-way traffic game.
The victory is Post's
second in the year after they had beaten their rivals on penalties in the
knockout finals earlier. The closest Ghatel came in their quest for a goal was
on 13 minutes, when Sheila Okine's shot was parried over the bar by Black
Queens' number one goalkeeper, Menunatu Sulemana who was on duty for Post.
The game was reduced
to a midfield action with occasional bursts from both sides but that could not
change the scores. On their way to the finals, Post defeated Nungua Ladies 1-0,
Sunyani Ghatel 4-2 and Deelorm Stars 1-0 whilst Ghatel, who until the finals
had emerged as the most exciting team and was largely tipped to retain the
trophy, beat Great Mawuna 4-2, Tesano Ladies 3-0 and Dansoman Ladies 1-0.
The gala, which was
without sponsorship saw the champions taking home twenty-four gold medals and a
trophy. The runners up took home 24 silver medals, while the third and fourth
placed teams had one football each.
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Akira wins Tema Golf Monthly Medal
Tema (Greater Accra)
31 March 2003 - Kobayashi Akira returned 67 net to win the March Monthly Medal
of Tema Country Golf Club played at Tema on Saturday. Akira played 46 out and
42 in with a handicap of 21 to beat a field of 30 participants who took part in
the event sponsored by the club.
Nana Antwi-Boasiako
came second with 69 net while Kojo Choi was third with 70 net. Esi Cobbina won
the Ladies event with 70 net and Florence Etwi-Barimah took the second position
with 71 net.
Alex Yayra Fiagomey,
Captain of Tema Golf Club expressed his disappointment about the low patronage
of the event. He charged members to be more active in the club's affairs by
contributing immensely to the development of the sport.
The event is played
every month to enable golfers to sharpen their strokes for major competitions.
The next major competition will be the Bok Nam Kim Memorial Open scheduled for
Tema on April 12.
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Kpobi wins Francophonie Marathon
Accra (Greater Accra)
31 March 2003 - Evans Kpobi of Somanya clocked 25 minutes 12 seconds to win the
Second annual Francophonie Fortnight Marathon held in Accra on Saturday.
The eight-kilometre
race, which was started from the Alliance Francaise through some principal
streets in Accra, saw Kpobi taking the lead from the blast of the starter's gun
to the end at Alliance Francaise. Kwame Asante took the second position with a
time of 27 minutes, while Latif Abubakar was third with a time of 24.01
minutes.
About 200 runners
took part in the competition, which was jointly organised by the Alliance
Francaise, the National Commission on Culture and sponsored by Wonder Foods
Limited in partnership with the Embassies of French-Speaking countries.
Festus Tettey
Communications Director of Wonder Foods Limited expressed his appreciation of
the massive turnout of participants. He urged Ghanaians, especially the youth
to take active interest in sports since it keeps the body fit at all times.
Tettey said his company would continue to play its part in the sponsorship of
the event in the ensuing years.
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Diverse opinions on Osei-Kwaku's exit
Accra (Greater Accra)
31 March 2003 - Diverse reactions have been expressed concerning the exit of
Honourable Edward Osei-Kwaku as the Minister of Youth and Sports and the
merging of the Ministry of Education with the Youth and Sports Ministry.
The views of sports
personalities sampled by the GNA Sports indicate that majority of public
servants are ready to work under any sector minister but expressed worry over
the merging of the two major ministries.
Most people said the
education ministry has enormous problems and the addition of another ministry
would increase the workload of the minister. However other interviewees believe
that since sports is done by the youth who are mostly in schools the
combination of the two ministries is a step in the right direction.
Dr. Emmanuel
Owusu-Ansah Acting Chief Executive of the National Sports Council (NSC) told
the GNA Sports " as a public servant I'm ready to work under any minister
appointed by the government". He said the combination of the two
ministries would serve the interest of the NSC because the ministry of
education has staffs in all the districts and this would help in the
implementation of NSC programmes in the districts. Dr. Owusu-Ansah said even
though the load would be heavy, the ability of the new minister to delegate
power effectively would ensure his success.
Peter Kpodugbe
Chairman of the Ghana Basketball Association (GFA) said education and youth and
sports ministry was a single outfit in the past before it was separated. He
however expressed surprised at the merger of the two ministries by the
government again because the education ministry according to him has amorphous
problems to deal with and the combination of the two could compound the
problems of the education ministry.
Kpodugbe declined to
comment on the performance of the ex-minister. Vincent Arhin, coach of the
National Table Tennis team, the Golden Loopers, was of the view that the
combination of the two ministries would enhance the development of sports
through schools. He explained that as coach, he has been poaching a lot of
talents from the schools over the years.
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