Daniel Barnie, the rising star of Ghana Premier League champions Accra Hearts of Oak, has got a brand new car from Alhaji Malik, the owner of Pacific Oil.Barnie received the Hyundai Veloster 2013 model yesterday and was greeted warmly by his teammates upon his return to the Hearts training...

The Live draw for the quarter finals of the 2020-21 MTN FA Cup competition will be staged live in the studios of Max TV on Thursday.

The eight quarterfinalists will know their opponents after Thursday’s draw.

Six Ghana Premier League clubs have made it to this stage of the competition with second tier sides Kintampo Top Talent and Attram De Visser also in the hat for the draw.

The live draw is set to commence at 3pm on Thursday.

Below are the 8 qualified teams:

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings has signed on as a Tokyo 2020 official contributor ©TEPCO

Tokyo 2020 has signed an agreement to help power the Olympic and Paralympics with just days to go before the launch of the Games here.

Organisers have welcomed Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) - Japan's largest power company group - as an official contributor as the delayed Olympic Opening Ceremony looms on July 23.

TEPCO's responsibilities will include emergency response in the event of power failure at Games venues and other areas.

The company will also support with the construction and operation of electrical equipment and inspect power supplies.

"Facing the challenge of the first ever postponement of the Games in Olympic and Paralympic history, we are delighted to welcome TEPCO as an official contributor," said Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto.

"We are very encouraged and grateful to TEPCO for their full support in ensuring the stable operation of power supply facilities at Games venues, including any emergency response required.

"We will continue to make steady preparations for a safe and secure Games together with TEPCO and our other official contributors and partners."

TEPCO will work towards providing a reliable power supply at Tokyo 2020, with the Olympic Opening Ceremony just days away on July 23 ©Getty Images

Official contributor status differs from Tokyo 2020's sponsorship programme as it recognises non-profit organisations which work towards the delivery of the Games.

Companies are allowed to use designations to explain their contributions within Japan.

TEPCO employs nearly 38,000 people and generates and sells energy in the Kanto region, including Tokyo and Yokohama.

"TEPCO is honoured and humbled to be able to support the Tokyo 2020 Games as an official contributor," said the company's President Tomoaki Kobayakawa.

"Looking back, we also supported for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 1964.

"Leveraging our know-how, experience and networks, we will do our utmost to ensure a stable power supply for the venues and other facilities of the Tokyo 2020 Games, and contribute to a safe and secure event."

By Dan Palmer at the Toyoko Inn Kamata Higashi-guchi in Tokyo 

The first athletes have arrived at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Village, which has officially been opened by organisers in Japan’s capital city.

National delegations have also been able to enter the Village to prepare for the arrival of their respective athletes.

Athletes were dropped off and entered the Village at a location inaccessible to the media.

The low-key nature of the arrivals was underlined by traditional welcome ceremonies for teams being cancelled.

Tokyo 2020 claimed the cancellation of the media opportunities and welcome ceremonies came as part of simplification measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The athletes are grateful that these Olympic Games are happening under these circumstances, and that all measures are being taken to deliver safe and secure Games,” International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said.

“After all that they had to overcome during this last year – where they did not know whether the next competition would take place, they did not know whether they could go to training the next day, they did not know where they would meet with their coach again – after all this additional stress during the pandemic, finally they can shine on the Olympic stage.

“And I hope that they will, under these circumstances nevertheless, enjoy it to the fullest.”

The Village is located at the Harumi waterfront district of Tokyo, around six kilometres from the National Stadium.

The complex features 21 residential buildings and 3,800 condos.

Around 18,000 athletes and officials are expected to stay at the Village during the Olympics.

Athletes have been instructed to arrive no earlier five days prior to their competition and leave no later than two days after their event concludes.

The restrictions are part of measures designed to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, although organisers are yet to confirm what the expected capacity of the Olympic Village will be during the Games.

The IOC claim around 85 per cent of participants arriving in the Village will have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Village Plaza is set to serve as a social hub for athletes and will include a cafe, florist, bank, photo studio and dry cleaners,

A Tokyo 2020 merchandise shop is also included in the complex.

A fitness centre, a recreation centre, the doping control station and a polyclinic are also included at the Olympic Village.

The Czech Olympic Committee were among the first nations to begin preparations for their athletes, with their canoe slalom athletes set to arrive later this week.

“We already have a completely decorated background with common areas, where athletes will be able to watch television broadcasts, but also play darts,” Martin Doktor, the Czech Republic’s Chef de Mission, said.

“Or table tennis on a cardboard table, which we chose because the beds are made of the same material.

“Of course, there is also a coffee machine in the kitchen.”

Doktor revealed that decorations at their part of the Village honoured Věra Čáslavská, winner of three Olympic gymnastics gold medals at Tokyo 1964.

The Olympic Village has opened a day after Tokyo officially entered into a fourth state of emergency.

An increase in new COVID-19 cases and concerns over new variants led to the decision to place the capital back in a state of emergency.

The Japanese Government admitted it was hoping to restrict people travelling during the summer break and the Bon holidays until vaccinations rose further.

Japan reported over 2,400 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, with 502 reported in Tokyo.

Nearly 62 million vaccine doses have been administered in Japan to date, a rise of 1.7 million from yesterday’s figure.

A total of 44 million elderly people have received doses, with 27.4 million receiving one dose and 17.2 million both doses.

The figure means 77 per cent of elderly people have received a single dose, with nearly half having been fully vaccinated.

In the overall population 30.3 per cent have received one dose, with 18.5 per cent now fully vaccinated.

By Michael Pavitt at the Main Press Centre in Tokyo

In an attempt to whip more excitement into the 2020/21 MTN FA Cup as well as rewarding supporters, telecommunication giants [MTN Ghana] has introduced a new football quiz – the HOTTSEAT Challenge.

Supporters who chooses to take part in the HOTTSEAT Challenge stand the chance of winning instant cash weekly or a new iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The App can be downloaded from Playstore.

WHAT IS THE FA Cup HOTTSEAT?

• Brand Engagement and Reward platform
• “Who wants to be a millionaire” style trivia game engine
• Fully Customizable Backend and Rewards
• Intense and immersive gameplay daring players to keep

playing for higher rewards

• Cross platform [Web, Android, iOS, Windows]
• Easy integration within existing apps and website
• Monetization platform
• User management
• Hottseat will be used to drive engagements and reward fans and

gamers of MTN FA Cup 2021

• 15 questions about the FA cup will be shared on Hottseat to reward 20 subscribers weekly starting from the round of 64.
• 4th to 20th winners will be rewarded instantly with MOMO or call credit as follows
• 4th – 10th – GHC 150
• 11th – 20 – GHC 80
• The top 3 winners will be invited to the studio during the live draw

to be rewarded.

• EXP to take video testimonials from the winner
• A 30-45 seconds curated video of the testimonials to be shared &

promoted on MTN social Facebook page.

• A link from the video to be included in the next Hottseat sms to drive

believability for the contest.

• Weekly leader boards to be shared on MTN facebook page to further

drive engagement.

• From the round of 16, we are likely to have Regional debuts, hence the

special Hottseat contests.

• This would be reward and also build points on the leader board towards

the ‘LAST FAN STANDING’

• A team of Sports Bloggers and Journalist have been recruited watch the

matches and draft question & answers for Hottseat.

• The questions would be interspersed with other general football

related questions.

• Each contest would have 15 questions with multiple choice

answers.

Gameplay Instructions & Rules

• There are 15 questions with 4 multiple choice answers in total on the MTN FA Cup Hottseat
• Your goal is to dare to attempt all 15 questions on the scale from 100 points to 1M points (To win). The scale is arranged as 5 Easy, 5 Medium and 5 Hard questions. The higher you rise, the more difficult it gets.
• You have 15 secs to answer each question
• If you are stuck, use our 3 lifelines. The first lifeline is “Call a friend” where you are given 60secs time extension to call a friend or research. The Second lifeline is “Audience Poll” where the audience vote on a correct answer. The third lifeline is 50/50 where 2 wrong answers are taken out.
• Let the Game begin!
• Score System
• The score system follows “Who wants to be rich style” where you strive to get to an anchor point in order to earn that point. The anchor points are 100, 1000, 32000 & 1M.
• Each question comes with its corresponding point or reward! You only have one attempt per question. Answering correctly automatically progresses you to the next question on the scale until you reach an anchor point to decide

if you want to proceed or give-up. Giving up grants you the points allocated at that anchor level. Answering wrongly ends the game upon which you go home with the previous anchor points you attained.

MTN FA Cup Hottseat Challenge [Sample]

Show us how well you know about Ghana Football by answering only

15 questions in the “MTN FA Cup Quiz Challenge” to be part of the

top ranking weekly to win amazing prizes from MTN!

The Topmost weekly winner emerges as the Ghana Football Guru of

the week and holds the FA Cup Hottseat Trophy!

A winner keeps the FA Cup Hottseat Trophy until another winner

beats him/her to it the ff weekly!

To maintain your position as guru of the week, you must keep playing

weekly!

• Click PLAY at the top right corner to play now !

Source - www.sports24ghana.com

Top Ghanaian sprinter – Joseph Paul Amoah who was the first athlete to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will not run in the100 meters dash.

He has explained why he dropped 100m and go for the 200 m and the 4x100m.

Despite qualifying for the men’s 100m event having ran of 10.01 seconds at the 2019 NCAA Division I Championships, the 24-year-old sprinter has decided not to run in the 100m at the Summer Olympics in Japan.

“Would be running only the 200m and 4×100 at the Olympics Folded hands,” Joseph Paul Amoah said on his social media page on Tuesday, June 6, 2021.

The sprinter explained why he opted to compete in the 200m and the 4x100m relays during a zoom meeting organized by the Ghana Athletics Association (GAA).

According to Joseph Paul Amoah he did not take the decision in isolation, but with consultation from the coaching staff as well as the technical committee of the GAA.

He decided to focus on the 200m because there’s a limited time between the 100m and the 200m events and that could distract him from fully concentration.

Professor Francis Dodoo, President of GAA explained that attempting the run both events withing a limited space of time could be a recipe for disaster  because it could cause injuries to an athlete so Joseph Amoah has taken the right decision.

Joseph Paul Amoah is a expert in the 200 metres having ran 20.08 seconds at the 2019 NCAA Division I Championships, beating the national record over the distance previously held by three-time Olympian Emmanuel Tuffour by 0.07 seconds.

14 athletes will represent Ghana at the 28^th Olympic Games

From Sammy Heywood Okine

Ghanaian sprinter Benjamin Azamati has joined teammate Joseph Paul Amoah in opting out of one sprint event at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

Azamati has confirmed he will not run in the men’s 200m event and instead will focus on the 100m and the relays.

Earlier, Joe Paul took to twitter to announce his decision to pull out of the 100m event in order to focus on his ‘favorite’ 200m and the relays.

Azamati, 22, has been in hot form in the 100m this season setting a new national record (9.97s) in his first outdoor race of the season to qualify for the Tokyo Games.

He then helped the men’s 4x100m relay team qualify for the Olympics in Silesia, Poland at the end of May before following that up with another personal best in the 200m (20.13) to book his ticket in the half lap event but has now opted not to compete in the event.

“The decision we took for Azamati and Joe Paul to run one individual race each was influenced by the scheduling at the Tokyo Olympics.

“If they were to compete in the two events and qualify for the finals, which is likely looking at their times, they would have run about 8 races in the space of just 6 days coming into the start of the relays and that certainly would have meant they would be completely burnt out,” Andrew Owusu, head coach for Ghana’s athletics team explained in a zoom press conference.

“So in order to preserve them and keep them fresh for the relays, we decided the best thing to do is have them run in one race each,” he said.

The Tokyo Olympics are set to begin on July 23.

Team Ghana’s athletics squad has been preparing in Baltimore, USA ahead of the games.

Source - citisports

Ghanaian weightlifter Christian Amoah who is representing at the Olympic Games for the second time says he will be the man to watch at Tokyo 2020.

In an exclusive chat with Yours Truly, the James Town based guy said he does not want to talk much, but the stage will judge his performance.

“I don’t want my competitors to know how much am carrying now, but I can say my training is good and I am lifting very good weights” he said.

The number 4 in the Commonwealth rankings and second best in Africa said he will surprise many people.

He thanked the President of the Ghana Weightlifting Federation, Lawyer Jerry Ahmed Shaib for his motivation and the Ghana Olympic Committee President, Mr Ben Nunoo Mensah  who is his former boss for their support and inspiration.

He urged Ghanaians to remember him in their prayers so that he will perform well and enter the medal zone at the 28^th Olympic Games being hosted by Japan.

Amoah also thanked the Chef de Mission of Ghana’s Olympic Team, Mr.Mike Aggrey for his approachability and encouragements as well as his Japanese training friends in Inawashiro, where they the camping.

By Sammy Heywood Okine / Inawashiro

Kids from the Azuma Junior High School in Inawashiro on Monday visited their swimming pool side to inspire Ghana’s Abeiku Jackson and Unilez Takyi as they trained in preparation for the 28^th edition of the Olympic Games.

They came in to sing the Ghana national anthem and waived miniature Ghanaian flags to demonstrate their support for the GH Swimming Team.

President of the Ghana Swimming Association, Mrs. Delphina Quaye said she was touched by the gesture and expressed that the demonstration of love by the kids will motivate her swimmers to give off their best.

She said the GH Swimming Team can not assure Ghanaians of a medal at the Olympic Games, however they can improve upon their times as well as target national and African records, and inspire other young swimmers.

She noted that Ghana’s participation in the Olympic Games swimming event is a great achievement.

Coach Dan Opare said the solidarity shown by the kids will certainly help his swimmers to put up a good show.

The Chef de Mission, Mr. Mike Aggrey who was present at the training session was taken aback by the ability of the six year olds to render in harmony the Ghana national anthem.

He remarked that in spite of the pouring day, both the swimmers and the school kids stayed the course.

By Sammy Heywood Okine / Inawashiro

Tokyo 2020: Black Bombers Hail Training At Inawashiro As Better Than Ever

The three Black Bombers who are representing Ghana at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are more than determined to achieve for themselves, their families, friends, fans and mother Ghana.

After one week residential camping and training in Inawashiro, the boys are just more than ready to deliver.

Head coach Dr. Asare told Yours Truly, the initial preparations was not the all that good, however moving to the Golden Beach Hotel and the Trust Sports Emporium was better, but now the training facilities and conditions in Inawashiro, Fukushima has made them improved tremendously.

He said the Bombers are in the best shape of their lives, and he thanked the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) President, Mr. Ben Nunoo Mensah for his vision and marvelous support in getting them the Inawashiro Support.

He commended the entire GOC leadership for their farsightedness and hoped that favour and luck will follow them to reach the top.

“We have got and done our best in training, now we need the prayers and positive thoughts of Ghanaians to get to the Games and the medal zone. The gym here at the Inawashiro Cultural Center is cool and very good, we really enjoy it and we can not fail” he expressed.

According to the experienced boxing coach, certified with three stars, they are praying for good balloting and fair officiating.

He also thanked the Mayor of Inawashiro, Mr. Hiroshi Zongo and Ghana’s Ambassador to Japan, HE Frank Okyere for having time for Team Ghana and motivating them.

Coach Asare who is ably assisted by Vincent Akai Nettey noted that the Chef de Mission, Mr. Michael Aggrey and the officials handling the 2020 Olympic Team have been wonderful, and they are really ready to reach the medal zone.

The Black Bomber last week engaged their Japanese ‘brothers’ who are also taking part in the boxing tournament and it was total dominance by the Ghanaians.

The friendly match saw Skipper Suleman Tetteh ending his bout with a TKO when his opponent suffered a cut which was attended to by Team Doctor, Julia Derban.

Samuel Takyi alias “Ring Warrior’ was also too skillful and dominated his opponent, while Shakul Samed aka ‘Sharp Shooter’ fought two opponents over four rounds.

Coach Asare commended the GOC also for choosing a media attaché who is inspirational, unlike previous times when the media reported only negative news.

By Sammy Heywood Okine / Inawashiro