Category: Athletic

Black Stars forward Inaki Williams along with three other colleagues have been nominated in La Liga’s African MVP mid-season award.

The others Ghanaian players on the list include Joseph Aidoo, Baba Iddrisu, and Abdul Mumin.

The Ghanaian quartet will battle other African players like Bono, Samuel Chukwueze, Youssef En-Nesyri, Franck Kessié, Ilaix Moriba, and others for the award.

Inaki Williams, for Athletic Bilbao this season, has scored five goals and provided assists in 18 appearances.

Centre-back, Joseph Aidoo has also made 18 appearances for bottom-placed Celta Vigo, scoring one goal.

Real Mallorca midfielder, Baba Iddrisu has played 15 games while young centre-back, Abdul Mumin has featured four times for his new side Rayo Vallecano.

Source: Ghana Web

Black Princesses forward Sharon Sampson has completed her transfer to the Greek Premier League side PAOK Ladies.

The 20-year-old signed a two-year deal with the club, expected to expire in 2025.

Sharon completed her medical on Monday, January 23 before penning the deal.

The former Telge United forward scored four goals and provided six assists during her spell in Sweden.

She was a regular member of the school squad while studying at Oakland University in Michigan, USA.

The Tamale-born forward played for the Black Princesses during the U-20 Women’s FIFA World Cup in Costa Rica.

Source: Ghana Web

Former Ghana international, Asamoah Gyan has shared a touching story of how Bernard Dong Bortey gifted him money when he had nothing.

In an interview monitored by GhanaWeb Sports, the former Sunderland player stated that Dong Bortey is one of the few players he revers because of his generosity towards him during his humble beginnings.

Gyan recalled that Dong Bortey came to the national team camp with a bag filled with money after he shot his famous commercial video.

According to him, the Hearts of Oak legend willingly asked him to dip his hand into his bag and fetch as much money as possible.

“He has helped me, he is a free-spirited guy. Those days Dong Bortey was on top of his game. I remember we were in camp when he came with a backpack full of money,” Gyan told Dan Kwaku Yeboah in an interview.

He added, “we were mates but we were not that close, so he opened his bag and asked me to take the amount I wanted. I was hugely surprised.”

According to Gyan, he promised to pay back Dong Bortey when he also makes it in life. He added that the Hearts of Oak legend is one person who has a big heart.

“I took out a bundle of cash and I told him the day I will also make a lot of money, I will also repay him for his good deeds.

“He is someone who can give you a hundred million if even that is his last money on him. I’m a bit emotional… people don’t really know him but he does things from his heart,” Gyan said.

“He was supposed to be up there but things happen in life. People don’t know about my relationship with him but once in a while we talk. He is a good guy,” he added.

Source: Ghana Web

Dreams FC head coach, Karim Zito has said that he has an antidote to the mass player exodus that has bedeviled the Ghana Premier League and other local competitions.

Player exodus has been cited as one of the biggest problems of Ghana football as the top players in the league tend to leave the country in search of greener pastures abroad.

With many offering different solutions to the problem, Karim Zito in an interview with Kumasi-based Wontumi FM stated that he has the solution but won’t share it for free.

“Where I am coming from, player exodus is the problem, so if anyone has an alternative, he can give to the clubs. For me, I have an antidote to player exodus but I cannot discuss it for free with anybody.”

He also urged Ghanaians to rally behind the Black Galaxies in the ongoing 2022 African Nations Tournament in Algeria.

“We should all support the team. Everyone has his own way of assessing things, I predicted the Black Stars qualification to the World Cup and it came to pass and look at what is happening, we beat Benin, Nigeria to qualify for CHAN.

“Having defeated Nigeria to secure qualification to the CHAN, people still speak ill about our game. There are claims our football has been destroyed and if that is the case, how do we manage to beat Nigeria to qualify for CHAN?” he quizzed.

The Black Galaxies finished second in Group C to book their qualification to the knockout phase.

Source: Ghana Web

Accra,– Ghanaian footballers, Thomas Partey, Mohammed Kudus, and Andre Dede Ayew will be contending for prestigious awards at the 47th Sports Writers Association Awards (SWAG) at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC), on Saturday, January 28, 2023.

SWAG has for 47 years applauded the efforts of sportsmen, sportswomen, teams, and federations for their contribution to the development of sports in Ghana.

The three players would battle for the prestigious Footballer of the Year award, having made exploits with the national team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and club level. 

In the Sports Personality of the Year category, Mohammed Kudus would once again come up against sprinter Joseph Paul Amoah and boxer Abraham Mensah who also made history in their respective fields.

Kudus made headlines in Europe and Ghana, scoring goals for Ajax in the Champions League and in Eredivisie. 

The 22-year-old went on to make waves in last year’s World Cup, as he became Ghana’s first player to score a brace at the Mundial.

He crowned his debut appearance with two goals in all three games played, as he was adjudged the man of the match in Ghana’s group stage win against South Korea. 

Hearts of Oak forward, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh would come up against Asante Kotoko’s Ibrahim Danlad and AshantiGold’s Yaw Annor for the Home-based Player of the Year award.

Other categories to be contested for would be the Armwrestler of the Year, Athlete of the Year, Badminton Player of the Year, Boxer of the Year, Chess Player of the Year, Club of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Cricket Player of the Year. 

The 2022 SWAG Awards would see gallant sports personalities and other dignitaries in Ghana who would grace the occasion at the Accra International Conference Center. 

Source: Ghana News Agency

Debutants Madagascar swept into the African Nations Championship (CHAN) quarter-finals on Monday with a 3-0 drubbing of Sudan in Algeria.

The Indian Ocean islanders also beat Ghana last week, and topping Group C earned them a last-eight showdown against Mozambique on Saturday.

Ghana progressed as runners-up and will face the Group E winners — Cameroon or Niger — in another fixture on Saturday.

Tokinantenaina Randriatsiferana put Madagascar 1-0 up after 13 minutes on a chilly night in the eastern city of Constantine, beating goalkeeper Mohamed Mustafa at his near post with a low shot.

Solomampionona Razafindranaivo doubled the lead on the half-hour with the goal of the match — a superb lofted shot with the side of his foot over Mustafa.

Lalaina Rafanomezantsoa completed the rout three minutes later with a simple tap-in off a low cross after Mustafa had been rounded.

This is the second time Madagascar has made an instant impact in a CAF tournament after debuting in the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) four years ago and reaching the quarter-finals in Egypt.

The CAN is open to home and foreign-based players while the CHAN is confined to footballers with clubs in their country of birth.

But despite the restrictions, CHAN matches are classified as full internationals with results counting toward the FIFA world rankings.

On Tuesday, the last two quarter-finals places will be filled after an Oran double-header in which Mali face Mauritania in Group D and Cameroon meet Niger in Group E.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

President of Bechem United, Kingsley Owusu Achau, has implored the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to implement a ban on sports betting on the Ghana Premier League games.

Owusu Achau believes that such a measure would help eradicate the issue of match-fixing, which has been a persistent problem for the league in recent years.

In the 2020/21 season, there were red flags raised during a high-scoring match between Ashanti Gold and Inter Allies in the Ghana Premier League.

Both teams were subsequently found guilty of match manipulation by the GFA’s Disciplinary Committee, and as a result, were demoted to the Division Two League.

Owusu Achau urged the GFA to follow in the footsteps of Sudan and prohibit betting companies from including matches from the Ghanaian topflight on their sites.

“We have not been able to stamp it out so I made a proposal to the effect that even the FA could ban it so that no one can use our product as it is done in Sudan and some other places where you cannot use their league for betting,” he told the Graphic Sport.

“It is our product so we have the right to say that if you are caught using our product for betting you’ll be sued for several millions of dollars. This is not the first of its kind, it is done in Sudan and some other countries.”

Source: Ghana Web

Ghanaians will know the Black Galaxies’ quarter-final opponent in the ongoing CHAN tournament after the last Group E fixture between Cameroon and Niger on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.

The Black Galaxies qualified for the quarter-finals of the tournament after finishing second in Group C with 6 points.

Ghana will now face the winner of Group E which hasn’t been decided yet even though Cameroon is leading the group ahead of Niger, Mauritania, and Mali.

The Black Galaxies lost their opening game to Madagascar before beating Sudan in their second game to stand a chance of progressing out of the group.

Group C opponents Morocco didn’t show up for the tournament because of political reasons hence the decision of CAF to award the three others team with the maximum points per the rules of the competition.

Cameroon will play against Niger tonight at the Miloud Hadefi stadium in Oran, Algeria. The 2022 CHAN is being played in 2023 because a delayed AFCON was played in 2022 with Senegal winning their first trophy in Cameroon.

Source: Ghana Web