Category: Athletic

Stade Rennes have reportedly accepted both Southampton and Everton’s €25 million bid for Ghanaian winger Kamaldeen Sulemana.

According to Lequipe, the two English sides have agreed on a deal for a Ghanaian winger.

However, Kamaldeen would have to decide who to sign for after discussing personal terms with both clubs.

If the final details go through, Kamaladeen Sulemana will become the fourth Ghanaian to secure a move in the soon-to-close winter transfer window.

He will also become the 7th Black Stars player playing in 2022/2023 English Premier League joining Antoine Semenyo, Thomas Partey, Tariq Lamptey, Mohammed Salisu, Jeffrey Schlupp and Jordan Ayew.

Source: Ghana Web

Artificial turf expert, BLAG Ghana Limited, has handed over the first Cruyff Court in Sub-Saharan Africa in Tema to the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA).

The artificial grass turf at the Mante Din School in Tema, which was inaugurated last Friday, is equipped with facilities such as changing rooms, floodlights and a disability friendly environment.

Known as the Cruyff Court, the project was constructed by the Cruyff Foundation in collaboration with the TMA, with funding from cocoa processing outfit, Cargill Ghana Limited.

Addressing the media at the inauguration, Eddie Dankwa, Chief Operating Officer of BLAG Ghana Limited, was excited about meeting the timeline for the project and called on the managers of the facility to ensure proper maintenance of the facility.

“This is one of the best artificial grass you can ever play on in Ghana and I want to call on the handlers of the facility to ensure proper maintenance to enable it to last long.

“We had to work extra hard to be able to finish the project on time and I am glad my workers managed to pull it through,” said Mr Dankwa.

Paradigm shift

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, noted that the inauguration of facilities for training and learning were important for the country’s vision of shifting from sports promotion to development.

“The government since taking office in 2017 has inaugurated over 120 artificial turfs with the efforts of the public and private sectors.

“We believe this is the way to go if we want to unearth and nurture the talents of the youth through football,” he noted.

Talent development

Financiers of the project, Cargill Ghana, through its Managing Director, Aedo van der Weij, explained that the inauguration of the state-of-the-art facility would go a long way to promote the development of sports among the youth of Tema.

For his part, Yohane Amarh Ashitey, Chief Executive of TMA, said the importance of the facility could not be over-emphasised since it would make the youth of Kwesi Plange, Padmore, and Ashiboi electoral areas active.

He added that 16 coaches had been trained as part of the project to support activities and model leadership values on the court and in the communities.

“I am personally glad that our mantra of making Tema shine again is being manifested in some of these projects within the municipality,” he said. transfer window.

The former Black Meteors striker has joined his new side on loan from Real Oviedo till the end of the season.

He joins the club after agreeing to the loan terms and also passing a medical examination on Monday.

Obeng has struggled for goals this campaign and also game time in equal measure as he has scored once in 25 appearances.

The Ghanaian striker has a contract with Real Oviedo until 2024 and has played he majority of his football in the basement of Spanish football.

Source: Ghana Web

English Premier League side Chelsea have become the biggest spenders in the Premier League since the change of ownership in 2022.

Although Roman Abramovich was at the helm for 19 years, the coming of American group Clearlake Capital, backed by Todd Boehly has seen bigger investments at the club.

From May 2022 till January 31, 2023, the club has spent close to $533 million which is equivalent to £500 million on transfers alone within a space of two transfer windows.

The Blues have brought in 17 players totalling £481 million which has gotten people raising eyebrows over Financial Fair Play.

In the January transfer window alone, the Blues have brought in seven new players who have been estimated to cost £188.9m.

In the 2022 summer window, Chelsea were the biggest spenders in England, having splashed out on players like Raheem Sterling and Wesley Fofana.

Chelsea’s expenditure of $533 million in the transfer market is expected to go up if the Blues can bring in Enzo Fernández from Benfica at the cost of $130 million (£106m).

Every signing Chelsea have made since Todd Boehly became the owner

Mykhalo Mudryk, £88m – Shakhtar Donetsk

Wesley Fofana, £72m – Leicester City

Marc Cucurella, £58m – Brighton and Hove Albion

Raheem Sterling, £50m – Manchester City

Kalidou Koulibaly, £34m – Napoli

Benoit Badiashile, £33.5m – Monaco

Malo Gusto, £31m – Lyon

Noni Madueke, £29m – PSV

Cesare Casadei, £17.5m – Inter Milan

Carney Chukwuemeka, £16m – Aston Villa

Andrey Santos, £11m – Vasco da Gama

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, £10.5m – Barcelona

David Datro Fofana, £10.5m – Molde

Joao Felix, Loan (£9.5m) – Atletico Madrid

Gabriel Slonina, £8m – Chicago Fire

Denis Zakaria, Loan (£2.5m) – Juventus

Enzo Fernández (£106m) – Benfica – Close to done deal JNA

Source: Ghana Web

Former Asante Kotoko coach, Isaac Opeele Boateng has lashed out at the Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam Narteh George over his criticism of the Ghana Football Association.

Coach Opeele Boateng reckons Sam George might be speaking from a position of ignorance as he is not well-versed in the issues of sports.

Coach Opeele believes that the FA will be wasting their time if they decide to press defamatory charges against Sam George for the claims he made against the federation.

“I monitored hue & cry by devil advocates in Gh that, GFA should sue an MP. Basically, The novice MP has no voice in soccer. How many fans know him? It is same way a sports person passing bad political comment would be overlooked cos the person has no voice in politics,” he tweeted.

What did Sam George say

Sam George in a Joy Prime interview made some wild allegations against the Ghana Football Association and its president.

Sam George said that the FA have settled on Chris Hughton as the next Black Stars coach because he can be manipulated.

“That [coaching] job they have given it to Chris Hughton already, so why are we wasting our time?” he quizzed on Joy Prime.

“They have given it to him because they want someone they can manipulate, someone they can use to do their business, someone they can tell him to bring his team selection [with changes being made with regards to agency call-ups] regardless of how long the person has played or not played.

“People are using GFA to make money; they are using it to feed their family.”

When asked whether he had proof of his comments, he said, “Tell me how Baba Rahman found his way to the last squad at the final game at the World Cup [v Uruguay]. What ball did he play? What ball had he played? Is Baba Rahman’s agent not our GFA president?”

GFA reaction

The Ghana Football Association have condemned the statement from Sam George, describing it insult.

Reacting to Sam George’s comment, Prosper Harrison Addo said it is disrespectful for the Member of Parliament to insinuate that they have been manipulating Black Stars coaches in the past.

“It is insulting to the GFA and whichever coach he is talking about. The coaches we have hired are all fathers so if you can’t disrespect your father, then don’t disrespect others.

“Are you trying to say that the coaches are fools because I have worked here for three years and I haven’t seen any coach we have hired who is a fool? How can you say we manipulate coaches who are even older than us. All of the people talking they don’t know the people they are talking about,” he said on Angel FM.

Source: Ghana Web

Casablanca (Morocco), Jan. 31, GNA – Some of the finest football clubs from various continents will be aiming to win the 19th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup to be staged in Morocco from February 1–10, 2023.

Seven football giants, including Real Madrid, Flamengo, Wydad Athletic Club, Auckland City, Al-Hilal, Al Ahly, and the Seattle Sounders, would battle in Morocco’s cities of Rabat and Tangiers for the coveted trophy.

The Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier, Morocco, would be the centre of attraction on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, when the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup officially kicks off.

It kicks off with a first-round clash between two continental giants, Egypt’s Al Ahly and New Zealand’s Auckland City.

Al Ahly, the 10-time African champions, kick off their campaign on Wednesday against Oceania Football Confederation powerhouse Auckland City for a place in the second round.

Auckland City hold the record for the most appearances (10) at the FIFA Club World Cup and would be looking to replicate their bronze-medal winning performance when the tournament was staged in Morocco back in 2014.

But it won’t come easy against an Al Ahly side that beat the Navy Blues 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the 2006 Club World Cup in Japan, with goals from Flavio and legendary African football icon Mohamed Aboutrika.

The winner of this tie would face the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer this Saturday in Tangier.

After defeating Mexican side Pumas in last year’s Champions League Concacaf finals, the Seattle Sounders would become the first United States team to compete in the Club World Cup on Saturday.

Wydad Athletic Club, the reigning CAF Champions League champions, would face Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal of Riyadh, who qualified by virtue of being the 2021 Asian Cup champions.

The Moroccan side would have the entire country behind them, especially following the impressive outing by the Atlas Lions in last year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Real Madrid and Flamengo, who are traditional heavyweights from Europe and South America respectively, would kick off their campaign in the semis as they await winners from the first and second rounds.

The Los Blancos, who won the 2014 edition hosted by Morocco, would be chasing their fifth title, as they currently hold the record for most titles won.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Former Black Stars midfielder, Afriyie Acquah has joined Iraqi club Al-Ouwa Al-Jawiya on a free transfer.

The 31-year-old landed in Iraq on transfer deadline day to complete his move to the club. The deal is expected to last for one year with the option to extend.

Afriyie Acquah started his career with Palermo and went on to play for Parma, Sampdoria, Empoli, 1899 Hoffenheim before moving to Yeni Malayatspor.

His last stint was at Al-Batin where he made just 8 appearances for the club. The player enjoyed more playing time at Torino where he made 71 appearances and scored 5 goals in the Serie A.

Afriyie Acquah played 39 appearances for the Black Stars and scored one goal. He was part of Ghana’s squad that reached the finals of the AFCON 2015.

Source: Ghana Web

Aduana Stars winger, Emmanuel Gyamfi has been handed a five-game ban by the Disciplinary Committee of the Ghana Football Association for misconduct against Asante Kotoko goalkeeper Frederick Asare.

The former Asante Kotoko captain in addition to his five-game ban, has also been fined GH?2000.

This punishment comes on the back of Emmanuel Gyamfi’s off-the-ball tackle on Asante Kotoko goalkeeper, Frederick Asare on matchday 10 of the 2022/23 Ghana Premier League.

“Aduana FC player Emmanuel Gyamfi has been handed a 5-match ban by the Disciplinary Committee following a sporting misconduct against Asante Kotoko goalkeeper Frederick Asare in a betPawa Premier League game at the Nana Agyemang Badu I Park at Dormaa.”

“The player was charged by the GFA prosecutor following the incident after which he put in a strong defense.”

“However, Gyamfi has been banned for five betPawa Premier League matches and fined Two Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHc2,000) having conceded previous warnings issued to the player some time ago,” part of the GFA Statement sighted by GhanaWeb Sports read.

Emmanuel Gyamfi will miss the games against Dreams FC, Nsoatreman, Bechem United, Accra Hearts of Oak, and King Faisal at home on matchday 19.

Source: Ghana Web

Japanese forward, Jindo Morishita has sealed his move to Accra Great Olympics.

The representatives of the player and officials of Great Olympics have been in talks since last week over a possible move.

Today, Great Olympics have confirmed that a deal has been reached to secure the services of Jindo Morishita.

The club has hence officially unveiled the forward in a short post on its social media.

Jindo Morishita, 27, in the past played for Ghanaian outfit Ebusua Dwarfs. He was part of the squad of the team that suffered relegation from the Ghana Premier League in 2019.

Jindo Morishita is excited after joining Great Olympics and is keen to help the team.

Source: Ghana Web