Columbus Crew captain, Jonathan Mensah, believes his Black Stars place was frozen due to the misconception of playing in the Major League Soccer [MLS].

Mensah has been out of the Ghana national team after the 2019 African Cup of Nations [Afcon] where the Black Stars exited at the group phase of the tournament.

Since moving to the MLS in 2017 however, the Columbus Crew captain has been largely overlooked for national team duties despite playing well over 100 games for the Crew.

The former Ashantigold man believes the misconception about the MLS is what has affected his national team appearances.

“Looking back at my career in France, one of the top leagues in the world, I was in a tough situation at that time with a couple of injuries,” Mensah told Citi TV.

“I played just about 50 games in my 4 or 5 years in France. But I still played lots of games with the national team, because wherever there was a call up I was always fit,” he said.

“I’ve played over 100 games during my time in the MLS and I haven’t received too many call ups. I really don’t know where talk of the league being weak is coming from. I don’t believe that narrative,” he added.

The experienced centre back played over 50 games for the Black Stars during an injury-laden spell when he was playing in France.

Mensah became the first African in MLS history to captain his side to the championship when he led Columbus Crew to the 2020 MLS championship.

From Sammy Heywood Okine

Madam Gloria Commodore, President of the Women In Sports Association (WISA) has commended female sports journalists in their hard work towards promoting female sports in Ghana.

Speaking at the carnival to usher in the Women’s Premier League at the McDan Park at La in Accra on Saturday, she said the future is feminine, so the journalists must work hard to encourage more girls to do sports.

She said Ghana’s performance at the last African Games in Morocco in 2019 shows that the female athletes can excel if they are motivated.

According to the AIPS and SWAG senior member who has participated in multiple sports disciplines, sports can unknown people very popular and also change fortunes.

She said as the Women’s Premier League begins on January 15, 2021, she hopes and pray that there would be fair officiating, no hooliganism and fans are going to watch to make it interesting and exciting.

Also known as Mama G, she commended journalists like Nana Adwoa Kwofie, Elizabeth Alhassan, Aisha Z. Ali, Betty Yawson, Helga Gokah, Gloria Peprah and Rosalind Amoh for their selfless service in sports journalism.

She hinted that the 2020/ 2021 edition of the WISA Awards will come off in September, however they are preparing towards their seventh anniversary in February.

In the exhibition match to welcome the 2020/ 2021 Female Football season, Mamobi Select beat Nima Select 4-2.Benardo, the acrobat cyclist and Spency Diva thrilled guests with their skills and talent.

Madam Hilary Boateng, Chairperson of the WPL also applauded the organisers of the extravaganza. She expressed that more of such events can draw attention and increase patronage towards women’s football.

Decathlon Ghana, McDan Foundation, Beebies Events GH, African Sports Media Network, Ultimate Sports, News Ghana, Asaaseaban.com, TV Africa, Rainbow Radio, Uniq Radio, Alliance Media Plus, Metro TV, Ghana Olympic Committee , WISA and Die Hard Supporters Union buoyed the event.

By Naa Amerley Commey

Host Cameroon has issued COVID-19 guidelines for African Nations Championship (CHAN) that will kick off in the country in a week.

“In a bid to respect the COVID-19 protocol established by CAF and FIFA, CAF and Cameroon have agreed on the rate of occupation of stadiums during the competition as follows: 25 per cent for all group matches including the opening match and 50 per cent for all semi-finals and finals,” Cameroon’s Minister of Sports and Physical Education Narcisse Mouelle Kombi said in a statement released Saturday, adding that a special mechanism to mark the seats in all stadiums will be set up following the authorized occupation capacity.

Wearing of face masks will mandatory in stadiums and social distance will be strictly applied, he said.

“The non-respect of the measures shall expose defaulters to the risk of expulsion from stadium,” Kombi said.

The CHAN will run from January 16 to February 7.

The competition, in its sixth edition, is open to players in local leagues and Cameroon will host the finals for the first time ever.

NewsGhana

Legon Cities finally ended their 7-round winless streak by pushing past WAFA in the Ghana Premier League on Friday evening.

Cities recorded a hard fought 1-0 win over the much-fancied Academy boys at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Joseph Adjei’s solitary strike was enough to hand Coach Bashiru Hayford’s side the maximum points and his debut win as Legon Cities manager.

The defender expertly dispatched a 48th minute penalty after Mather Anim Cudjoe was adjudged to have been brought down in the box.

The hosts ended the game with 10-men after Baba Mahama was sent off following a reckless challenge on WAFA goalkeeper in stoppage time.

Anquandah is Ghana’s first and only International master and multiple champion

International Chess Master (IM) Francis Anquandah has reclaimed the coveted National chess title from his perennial rival, John Kojo Hasford, in a fiercely contested chess tournament held at the Accra Sports Stadium

The competition which started in November 2019 and played in two phases, ended with the finals early this year.

Ghana’s International Master, Anquandah won his first national title back in 1986, and in the same year participated in Ghana’s first Chess Olympiad held in Dubai.

Following an unimpressive outing at last year’s edition, Francis did well to bounce back as he went unbeaten in the nine round event managing five wins and four draws, totaling seven points.

Meanwhile, closest contender, Joseph Jamena Mensah, won 2nd place after managing 6.5 points. Jamena, although had a good start to the tournament, had his hopes curtailed in the 7th round when he suffered a painful defeat to Kumasi sensation, Dr. Kwabena Adu-Poku who later won third place.

The defending champion, John Kojo Hasford did not get the podium this time after surprising losses to Prince Akpa and Aikins Dwamena, best players of UHAS and UG chess clubs respectively.

In the Women’s category, defending champion, Felix Abena Tobi, who recently graduated from the University of Ghana retained her title for the third time consecutively. Second place went to Maud Benson of Achimota Senior High School, who was touted to win the tournament as she led to log after the 7th round.

Her hopes were however dashed after a painful defeat to Christiana Ashley, a member of the Ghana Olympiad team. The latter took third place at the end of proceedings.

The junior U-20 division saw the emergence of 14 year old Enock Nenyo Kpodzi of Great Stars Montessori School clinched the first place position. He was followed closely by UK-based new chess sensation Philip Selikem Amoako, who was spotted in the news presenting his chess laurels he won in UK to former President John Agyekum Kuffour sometime in 2019.

The 3rd spot in the junior division went to Achimota Senoir High School leaver, Joseph Sovereign, who won gold in a similar event in 2019.

Missing from the Junior event however was Dave Quansah Acheampong who won a gold medal at the recent African Under-9 championships hosted online by the Kenyan Chess Federation.

Following the postponement of the chess Olympiad due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team would have to play in next year’s nationals to qualify to the next Olympiad to be hosted by Russia in 2022. The winners were awarded with trophies, medals and cash prizes by the Ghana Chess Association.

Source - Victor Agyeman

Accra Five Star Football Club is organizing a ‘Justify Your Inclusion’ Programme at Kasoa to pick players from January 11^th to 20^th, 2020.

The exercise comes off at the Kakraba Zion School Park, off the Kasoa Nyayano Road from 6am each day.

Interested young talented and skillful players can join by registering at 50ghc with a passport photo.

All interested players can contact – 0244451064 / 0246440022.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

Ghana football legend, Abedi Ayew Pele displayed his table tennis skills to the admiration of some sports journalists on Thursday at the Kawukudi depot of Decathlon Ghana.

The former Olympic Marseille top star who has retired and living in his home country, said he has been staying fit and continues to engage in various exercises.

Abedi Pele, 56, who captained the Black Stars of Ghana won the UEFA Champions League with Olympic Marseille and enjoyed successful stints with clubs including Real Tamale United, Al-Saad, FC Zurich, Lille, Lyon, and a few others.

He made 77 appearances for the Black Stars and scored 33 goals to bring joy to the West African country.

He was voted African Best Footballer of the Year three times continuously. All his sons and brothers (family) are gifted footballers.

Abedi who was instrumental in South Africa hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010 on African soil is an Ambassador Extra Ordinary.

See some pictures of Abedi Pele as he plays table tennis:

From Sammy Heywood Okine

Dreams Football Club have appointed Serbian trainer, Vladislav Viric as their New Manager.

The Serbian International who is a UEFA License A holder will replace Karim Zito who will continue to serve as the Technical Director of the club.

The 44-year-old who assumed work almost immediately will begin life in Dawu as he leads the club to play Ebusua Dwarfs in their week eight fixture on Sunday.

Viric who will be having his second stint in Ghana spoke on his relationship with the club and what he hopes to achieve -“I met the owners of Dreams FC during my stay here with Vision FC, we built a great relationship which I am hoping to continue. Dreams FC is a Premier League Club and I know it comes with extra responsibility but I promise to deliver”.

Speaking on the current form of the Still Believe lads and how tough his job will be; the manager admitted that the team has enough quality but has a problem with scoring and believes it can be solved. “Dreams FC has a lot of quality players but the results aren’t reflecting the quality of football we play. “Football is about goals and we have to play for goals”, we will play for every point and make sure we improve as a team to achieve the club’s goals.”

Born in Serbia, the former footballer has worked in elite clubs around the world including Valencia FC in Spain.

footballmadeinghana

The Confederation of African Football (CAF’s)  has strongly endorsed Ghana Football Association (GFA) chief Kurt Okraku's impeccable personal record by clearing him to stand election for the body's Executive Council election in March.

Africa's football governing body carried out thorough eligibility checks on the highly-rated Ghanaian administrator and approved his candidature for the election in Morocco.

The Governance Committee of CAF this week checked all the personal records of Okraku to ensure that he is a person of high integrity to occupy a position with the Cairo-based body.

The exhaustive checks by CAF have revealed that Okraku's personal record is spotless and will help enhance the image of Africa's football governing if he ascends to the organisation's board.

With this decision Okraku will now face Niger's Djibrilla Hima Hamidou for a place on the Caf Exuctive Committee from the Wafu Zone B.

Okraku will be vying for the position to replace Nigeria's Amaju Pinmick who will now be fighting for a Fifa Council position for Anglo-phone Africa group.

Despite being in his positions as the Ghana FA chief over just over one year, his awe-inspiring performance has won him many hearts among several federations across Africa.

His legendary organizational skills as well as his football marketing background that has swept Ghana with the #BringBackTheLove campaign to revive the country's game has also been noted by the continent's aficionados.

Okraku's knowledge and contacts is highly needed at this time that African football is at its lowest ebb as he is the only person with pure academic education at the highest level in football and proven track record.

Among the top African football officials today he is the only one with an MBA in football management from the prestigious University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom.

He managed one of the top clubs in Africa football, Accra Hearts of Oak, before setting up a third division club in Ghana, Dreams FC,  before it to rose to the Premier League and a force in the country.

The decision by the Governance Committee of CAF will give Okraku the chance to demonstrate what he can do for African football.

The Governance Committee is one of CAF's four independent bodies. It is made up of eminent jurists from the continent, recognized for their expertise and moral probity.

It is chaired by Michel Brizoua-Bi (Côte d'Ivoire), Vice-President Happi Dieudonné (Cameroon), and Maya Boureghda (Tunisia), Monica Musonda (Zambia), Tumi Dlamini (South Africa) as members.

In accordance with article 44 of CAF statutes, the Governance Committee scrupulously analyzed the candidatures received on the basis of the report drawn up by an international and independent company of investigation services, specialized in the controls of 'integrity - an international partner firm in particular of FIFA - as well as the information provided by the candidate concerned through an eligibility questionnaire.

GhanaSoccernet

Ghana Tennis Club Elects New Executives

Ghana Tennis Club, Adabraka on Thursday 6th January 2021 held its election to choose it’s best executive officers.

Joseph Nii Armah was elected unopposed as Chairman after  Dr. Abraham Oppong’s tenure came to an end while Henry Boni became Vice Chairman also unopposed.

The secretary went to Michael Salomey unopposed and Christain Senanu Dzokoto won the Treasurer seat. 

Speaking to ghanatennis.org newly elected chairman of Ghana Tennis Club Joseph Nii Armah said, “I'm privileged to hold the helm of affairs of the oldest tennis club in Ghana, the previous administration did a lot for the club and its time for us to continue the good works’.

He added that, my new executives aim is to uplift this great club to the highest realm it belongs’.

Story: Gabriel Amoakoh