Day: August 18, 2022

The UK jury in the rape trial of French footballer Benjamin Mendy was on Wednesday told by one of his accusers how she had shouted ‘stop’ while trying to fight him off.

The 32-year-old woman’s recorded interview was played at Chester Crown Court in northwest England.

She recalled how the 28-year-old Manchester City player, wearing just boxer shorts, had walked in on her having a shower at his house, where she had stayed the night with one of his friends.

“I said, ‘You need to leave,” she recalled.

“I kept pushing him away, he kept grabbing me back. I just kept trying to wriggle out.

“He got very close but I pushed him away as much as I could,” she added.

The woman, the first of seven accusers to give evidence in his trial, said in the interview that she had considered screaming, but thought “there’s no point as he’s in his own territory.”

She had stayed the night at Mendy’s home in the village of Mottram St Andrew in rural Cheshire with one of the footballer’s friends following a night out in October 2018.

She told prosecutor Timothy Cray that she had felt “out of control” during the incident.

“I kept saying, ‘stop’ and ‘no’ but that wasn’t heard.”

Mendy is facing eight counts of rape, one count of sexual assault, and one count of attempted rape, relating to seven young women.

The Premier League star has pleaded not guilty to all the charges in a complex trial that is expected to last 15 weeks.

Cray earlier told the court that Mendy and his co-defendant, Louis Saha Matturie, were “predators, who were prepared to commit serious sexual offences” as they pursued women.

Matturie, 40, has also pleaded not guilty to eight counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault.

The alleged offences by both men are said to have taken place between July 2012 and August last year, with Mendy accused of a string of sexual offences starting in October 2018.

None of the women said to have been assaulted can be named under English law, which also places restrictions on what can be reported about the case.

Mendy joined Premier League champions City from the French side of Monaco in 2017. He has played 75 times for Manchester City, but his playing time was limited by injuries and a loss of form.

He was suspended by City after being charged by police in August last year.

The last of Mendy’s 10 international caps came in November 2019. The defender picked up a World Cup winner’s medal after playing just 40 minutes of France’s successful 2018 campaign in Russia.

Source: Modern Ghana

Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi is close to a loan move as he seeks more game time.

The England international has been linked with Borussia Dortmund, Newcastle and Southampton.

But other offers are being considered by Hudson-Odoi, who made 15 Premier League appearances last season and has not featured in this campaign.

It is understood Chelsea would allow a loan deal, but do not want to lose the 21-year-old permanently.

Having being left out of the squad for Chelsea’s opening Premier League game at Everton and an unused sub against Tottenham on Sunday, Hudson-Odoi’s departure would be the latest sign of manager Thomas Tuchel reshaping his attack.

Christian Pulisic has also been linked with a loan move to Manchester United, but it is understood Chelsea would not be willing to sanction a deal to a traditional rival. AC Milan have shown interest too in winger Hakim Ziyech.

The arrival of Raheem Sterling, plus a £45m bid for Everton’s Anthony Gordon, is intended to add more intensity to the forward line, particularly when attempting to press the ball.

Hudson-Odoi, capped three times by England, was close to joining Bayern Munich in 2019, before signing a five-year deal worth more than £120,000 a week.

He has struggled to become a regular at Chelsea since injuring his Achilles in the same year, but has spent this summer working on his upper body strength to make an impact this season.

Source: Modern Ghana

Former Communications Minister Dr Edward Omane Boamah has said Asamoah Gyan’s return to the Black Stars will destabilize Andre Ayew’s captaincy.

Gyan, a former Black Stars skipper has dominated the local media after confirming that he harbours the intention of playing at the Mundial in Qatar during an interview with the BBC.

The former Udinese Calcio has been clubless after parting ways with Legon Cities and last featured for the national team in 2019 during the Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] in Egypt, where the team was bundled out at the Round of 16.

Ahead of the tournament, Kwesi Appiah, who was the then Ghana coach stripped off Gyan’s captaincy and named Ayew as the new Black Stars captain with Gyan handed a new role as the General Captain.

Dr Omane Boamah believes the striker, despite being a game legend, is past his prime and should not consider returning to the Black Stars.

“Asamoah Gyan has served our nation very well. He has received National honours and we thank him for his dedicated service,” he wrote on Facebook.

“Let us not dishonour him by featuring him as a footballer in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The modern game has intricate dynamics with extraordinary energy and match fitness demands.”

“Besides, his presence changes the entire dynamics in the Dede Ayew-led Ghana Black Stars. Additionally, how many more players in the Asamoah Gyan category will be favourably considered or disappointed? I speak as a former Coordinator of the Ghana Black Stars with insider knowledge.

“Gyan has done very well for Ghana. No doubt,” he concluded.

Ghana will play Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay in the group stage.

Source: Modern Ghana

3Music Chief Executive Officer [CEO], Baba Sadiq has confirmed he has pulled out of the race to become the next Managing Director of Hearts of Oak.

Sadiq joined the race to become the next Managing Director for the Ghana Premier League club following the departure of Frederick Moore in 2020 November.

Speaking in an interview, Sadiq said that after expressing interest in the position and submitting his CV, there was little indication from the club that they were interested in his expertise.

Sadiq says owing to the seeming disinterest from the club, he has decided to focus on other aspects of his career with politics as he prepares to contest the Okaikwei Central seat.

“In fact I considered it. When they opened it, I also duly shared my CV. But unfortunately, the engagement hasn’t happened at the time I was expecting it to happen. So as of now for my part, it is off the books,” he told Asempa FM.

“Because of how I do my things, I expected that the engagement would have happened earlier than usual. Mind you, if I take the Hearts of Oak job, it would be at the expense of other career choices I would have made. I was keen on bringing in some magic and verve into the extensive work that has been done by the board. And, the Executive Chairman.

“For the period it was delayed, there were other considerations and as it stands now, I am looking to contest the primaries in Okaikwei Central for my party. And, I have already started work in that regard, pending the official opening of the process by my party,” he added.

Source: Modern Ghana

Barusso asserts although Gyan is a good goal scorer, it will take a lot of work to be able to convince the technical team.

“Asamoah Gyan is a good goal scorer but whether he should be taken to the World Cup is a tough question,” he told Happy FM.

“If he was attached to a club and playing like Zlatan with AC Milan, maybe it would be easier,” he added.

Asamoah Gyan last played for the Black Stars at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

The former Sunderland attacker is the all-time topscorer for Ghana.

Gyan is currently clubless after parting ways with Legon Cities two years ago.

Ghana have been pitched in Group H alongside Portugal, South Korea, and Uruguay.

Source: Modern Ghana

Head coach of the Black Princesses, Ben Forkuo has reacted to his exit at the ongoing U-20 Womens’ World Cup in Costa Rica.

Ghana suffered a 4-1 defeat to the Netherlands in the final group D match on Wednesday night.

They defeat – their third in the tournament sent them parking for the sixth straight time in history.

Forkuo believes the team will regroup, work hard and put measures in place to compete in the next edition.

“This is the sixth time we have not been able to qualify from the group stage and it is very worrying,” he said as reported by Ghana FA website.

“When we were coming to this competition for the sixth time, we decided to make sure that we qualify from the group stage for the first time and later progress from the quarter-final but it is unfortunate we lost all three matches and are out of the competition.

“We did our preparations and worked hard towards the competition but things didn’t go as planned.

“We will work hard and try again in the next edition and hopefully, the team will make it past the group stage for the first time,” he added.

The Black Princesses have played in every FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup tournament since its inception in 2010.

Source: Modern Ghana

The Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in Tamale is among ten match venues deemed “non-satisfactory” by the Club Licensing Committee after the latest inspection.

The committee announced its decision on August 18, after receiving reports from the Club Licensing manager, from inspecting the various match venues across the country.

The GFA Club Licensing Committee was not satisfied with the reports of all the venues submitted.

However, five venues namely WAFA Park, Accra Sports Stadium, Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Cape Coast Stadium and the Len Clay Stadium have been granted conditional approval pending the correction and/or defects as stated in the inspection reports submitted to the committee.

Meanwhile, 13 Clubs had their main venues marked as “Not Satisfactory” enough and have been asked to correct certain defects for the facility to be re-inspected between August 23 to 25th, 2022.

A final decision on the venues after the final inspection on August 26, 2022, will be made.

The decisions on the match venues shall be final for the period of the first four betPAWA Ghana Premier League match weeks of the first round.

The Club Licensing Committee shall only review decisions of the match venues to update the venue list after September 30, 2022.

Source: Modern Ghana