Prince ‘The Buzz’ Larbie is now a Brand ambassador for Spar Bar company in the  USA.

The company that deals in boxing equipment has added Prince ‘The Buzz’ to its top stars which include Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Manny Pacquiao and others.

Prince The Buzz: is the only African boxer in the pack, and his dad who doubles as trainer is very happy.

He prayed that the company will look beyond to support the Will Power Boxing Gym at James Town in Accra.

Prince ‘The Buzz’ Larbie, 8 was voted 2020 Best Juvenile Boxer by the Boxing Writers Association Ghana.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

"A number of athletes" have yet to be classified ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, according to the IPC ©Getty Images

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has confirmed "a number of athletes" have yet to be classified ahead of the delayed Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

Japanese capital Tokyo is due to stage the Games in just six months’ time but many athletes are still waiting to find out which categories they will compete in.

The IPC said the wait for classifications was "impacting" 10 of the 22 Paralympic sports, although the organisation would not specify what they were.

The delay is said to come as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which caused events to be cancelled or postponed last year.

According to Japanese news agency Kyodo News, more than 30 athletes that have either qualified to represent Japan at Tokyo 2020 or are still looking to book their place to represent the host nation at the Games have yet to be classified.

Among those are said to include Paralympic champions and there are fears athletes might not receive their classifications before the Games are planned to start on August 24.

"We cannot have a situation where athletes can't compete because of [no] classification," said Yumiko Taniguchi, executive director at the Japan Swimming Federation for Persons with an Intellectual Disability.

Classification is deemed to be the "cornerstone" of the Paralympic Movement by the IPC, determining which athletes are eligible to compete and how they are grouped together to ensure the credibility of competition.

The classification reviews would usually take place at major events, but many have been called off because of the global health crisis leading to a delay for athletes.

A spokesman from the IPC said it was aiming to get all athletes who need to be classified reviewed ahead of the Games.

"Due to COVID-19 and multiple cancelled competitions in 2020, there are a number of athletes that still need to be classified ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games," an IPC spokesman told insidethegames.

"This is impacting athletes across 10 of the 22 sports for Tokyo 2020. 

"The IPC is working closely with the relevant International Federations on various scenarios to ensure athletes can be classified ahead of the Games."

Kyodo News reports Tomoya Ito, who won the men's 400 and 800 metres in the T52 category at Beijing 2008, and table tennis player Takashi Asano are among the Japanese athletes whose classifications have yet to be reviewed despite already qualifying for the Games.

The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation has been ordered by the IPC to re-classify athletes ahead of this year's Paralympics ©Getty Images

The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation has been ordered by the IPC to re-classify athletes ahead of this year's Paralympics ©Getty Images

When Kyodo News asked whether the IPC was reviewing its classification process, the organisation's President Andrew Parsons said: "It's not something we are discussing at the moment.

"Having the same event (with) athletes that went through the review and athletes who didn't go through the review, it's something of a situation that we don't want.

"At the moment, our focus is to classify all the athletes that will be competing in Tokyo, rather than changing our regulations on all classifications."

The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) had been found non-compliant with the 2015 IPC Athlete Classification Code and ordered to re-classify athletes ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

The IPC said the sport would be reinstated if the IWBF became "fully compliant" with the Athlete Classification Code.

Last week it was confirmed 372 players were submitted for review by the IWBF eligibility assessment panel, with support from the International Paralympic Committee Classification Committee and classification management team. 

Just one unnamed player has been found to be ineligible with the IPC's requirements, with the remaining 365 declared eligible.

So far across both phase one and phase two of part one, 504 players have been reassessed, 487 have been deemed eligible and nine non-eligible, with eight cases still pending.

By Geoff Berkeley 

Former Ghana international, Sebastian Barnes has set his sights on the vacant Accra Hearts of Oak coaching job following the exit of Serbian trainer Kosta Papic.

The Phobians were hit with the resignation of three of their technical team members including head coach Kosta Papic who sighted some irregularities impeding his performance at the club.

However, Barnes who played for Accra Hearts of Oak between 1991 and 1995 has expressed his readiness for the job, saying he is the only solution to the club's problem.

“I'm the only solution for Hearts Of Oak,” he posted on his Facebook page.

The 44-year-old was a member of the Ghana team that participated in the 1991 and 1993 FIFA World U-17 Championships.

Barnes, who holds the UEFA License B certificate has previously managed the U-17 side of Bayer Leverkusen.

The club is in search of a substantive coach following Papic’s exit.

footballmadeinghana

The Elections Committee of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) has set Monday March 1st 2021 as the deadline for the filing of nominations for elections unto the executive board of the Ghana Olympic Committee.

Naa Odofoley Nortey Chairperson, GOC Election Committee who signed a press release said nominations for all positions have been opened effective February 22nd 2021 as part of a roadmap for the elections lined up by the committee.

The committee will after a review of all nominations publish a list of all eligible contestants on March 9th 2021 alongside a full list of delegates eligible to vote in the elections which is scheduled for March 15th 2021.

The nomination forms can be picked up in person from the front desk of the Ghana Football Association.  The completed nomination forms (an original and two photocopies) plus three passport sized photographs is also to be submitted at the front desk of the Ghana Football Association not later than the specified date (March 1st 2021 by 4:00 P.M).

Naa Odofoley Nortey chairs a three-member committee appointed  to approve the guidelines and roadmap for the March 15 Elections. with renowned sports journalist Michael Oti Adjei from Media General and Air Commodore George Kweku Arko-Dadzie as members.

Source - GOC Communications

A Gambian has decided to compete at the Winter Olympics.

Amadou Krubally who saw Ghana’s Akwasi Frimpong compete at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games for Ghana and Africa got inspired, reached out to him and started a winter sport federation for the Republic of Gambia.

This past weekend, they met him for the first time. We both competed at the IBSF ICC races in Innsbruck, Austria.

Frimpong said he felt so proud to see his fellow African breaking barriers and challenge the status quo.

“This kid is quick at the start and can slide. I am xcited for his future in the sport and I hope to see more Africans compete in winter sport” he said. 

By Sammy Heywood Okine

Ghanaian athlete Benjamin Azamati set records in both the 60m and the 200m at the Lone Star Conference Championships over the weekend to lead the West Texas A&M athletics team to their third LSC Championship title at Lubbock, Texas.

Azamati started off the day sweeping the 60m title with an impressive 6.61s sprint to defend the title he won last year, setting a new 60m meet record at the LSC Championship in the process.

The record is just 0.02s shy of his personal best (6.59s), which he set on 30th January, 2021.

Teammate and countryman, Desmond Aryee, came across the finish line in 6.86s, claiming the bronze medal in the process.

A few hours later, the former Legon student returned to the track to break the school and LSC record and set a Personal Best in the 200-meters out of Lane 6.

He became the first runner in conference history to go under 21 seconds in the event as he ran 20.97.

Aryee also finished seventh in 22.23.

No. 4. West Texas A&M won six events on Sunday as they won the program’s third Lone Star Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship on Sunday in Lubbock.

The Buffs scored a program-record 198 points to defeat Texas A&M-Commerce by 80 points.

The Lone Star Conference (LSC) – founded on April 25, 1931 – is an 18-member NCAA Division II league in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas.

From Sammy Heywood Okine

Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto: to connect various fields and industries with the power of sports

Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Organising Committee speaks during the Tokyo 2020 Executive Board meeting on February 18, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images)

Seiko Hashimoto took office as the President of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) on Thursday 18 February 2021. Hashimoto participated in seven editions of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Winter Games. She won a bronze medal at the 1992 Albertville Games in speedskating. As the new President of Tokyo 2020, she is fully determined to hold a successful Games and shares her plans for the near future.

My whole life is about the Olympics

You were born in 1964, days before Tokyo held Summer Olympic Games for the first time. As “a child born for the Olympics”, you have been deeply involved in the work of Tokyo 2020 and now you are the President. What does the Olympics mean to you?

I think for my whole life, the Olympics has been part of it. My father watched the Opening Ceremony of Tokyo 1964 at the National Stadium. There he had the dream that his child would become an Olympian in the future. So, he gave me the name “Seiko”, which comes from “seika”—translates as Olympic flame in Japanese. From then on, the Olympics has become my lifework. My life has been about the Olympics and I think my life from now on will be all about it.

It is like destiny that now you are the Tokyo 2020 President. How do you feel about being deeply connected with the Olympics and Paralympics?

Since I set the goal of competing at the Olympic Games, I was lucky enough to have participated in seven editions. I had acute nephritis when I was at the third grade of primary school and was hospitalised for two months. During my high school years I had a recurrence of the disease, and hepatitis B as well. I think it was the goal of becoming an Olympian that helped me get through all these difficulties. All of us face various problems, and I think it is a blessing that I could overcome these problems. I have lived my life with gratitude towards the Olympics and Paralympics. I would like to keep this kind of mindset in the future.

As a developed country, Japan is in a position to solve the social issues faced by the world

It is the athletes’ wish that the Games would be one supported by the public. As an athlete, and as one who has been involved in the Olympics as a head of the Japanese delegation, how do you plan to work with them?

The athletes are the centre of Tokyo 2020. They are the centre of Olympic and Paralympic Games. More than that, they are the centre of all sports events. There are those who support the athletes and create the stage for them. I believe that sport has the power to connect various fields such as education, culture, art, environment, and tourism. There are values that are unique to sports. As an athlete and one who supports athletes, I think athletes are not only an industry. They hold the strong power that can provide emotional support to people.

In a situation where the world is trying to get COVID-19 under control, people may ask whether there is any significance of having the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020. The biggest task (for us) is to think way of relieving people’s anxiety. For example, under the strict circumstance, the athletes could adhere to the disciplines, continue their training while following the COVID-19 prevention measures. This kind of practice can be connected to education. I also think the experience of COVID-19 would help us improve preventive medical care. Medical care for athletes is not only about symptomatic treatment. The athletes also need to protect themselves based on solid preventive medical care. I think this also an issue faced by the whole society now. With rational fear towards COVID-19, it is important for us to make use of our experience overcoming the pandemic and build a legacy.

Because of COVID-19, there are some negative sentiments surrounding Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. In your opinion, what is essential to get the empathy and support of athletes, the Japanese public and the partners?

I think there is no other event that could unite the world as one and get that much attention like the Olympic and Paralympic Games. I think the Games will get the attention from the whole world, with questions like how we can implement the COVID-19 countermeasures during the Games and how people would live their life and run the business in a time full of restrictions.

Besides COVID-19, the world is facing various social issues. Ageing population, food issues, poverty, and terrorism, all these are challenging issues that the world has not confronted before. It is a chance to show to the world that Japan and Tokyo can solve the problem one by one. I believe and wish that Japan can be a developed country in solving the social issues faced by the world. Tokyo 2020 is more than the pinnacle of sport events. As the host city, as the host country and as the Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, it is our mission to bear this question in mind - how to make the Games an opportunity to realise and create a sustainable and a fulfilled society.

While you are facing many difficulties and challenges, would you please share with us your thoughts as the new president?

How can we get through the COVID-19 situation? What are the significance and values of hosting Tokyo 2020? These are the questions I am facing now. With Tokyo Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, I wish to show people the beauty of the athletes’ motion and the beauty rooted deeply within them. I wish to let people know the importance of having the Games that are welcomed and creating a sustainable society.

Source: tokyo2020.org

Republic Bar & Grill – Boosting Tourism in Ghana

The Republic Bar & Grill at Osu, off the popular Oxford Street is sincerely contributing positively to the tourism promotion in Ghana.

Owned by Raja Owusu Ansah, he has been able to manage and sustained the international street bar for many years as they still competing with other hang outs in the capital, Accra.

He says Republic is playing its part in the entertainment and hospitality industry, and they are just creative and innovative with their unique style of branding with oil barrels.

He can not say why people love to come to the Republic, but gives credit to his management and staff of smart waiters and waitresses.

According to Raja, who is also President of the Ghana Kickboxing Association, they want to make people happy and stress free.

In this Covid -19 era, many things have changed in the industry, however they try as much as possible to abide by the health and safety protocols and implement procedures like usage of sanitizer, washing of hands with soap under running water, wearing of mask and social distancing.

Mr. Raja Owusu Ansah urged every Ghanaian to play a positive role in combating the coronavirus pandemic.

As a kickboxer with a winning mentality, he believes everything will be alright, however people must be very observant,  cautious and careful.

On the future of Ghana Kickboxing, he revealed that the future is bright and soon Ghanaians will watch some exciting bouts.

He expressed joy that all the popular fighters are training as none want to be dull and be caught unaware or unprepared when a fight is called.

“There are international programmes going on and very soon you will hear of Ghana, and our female practitioners” he said.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

German sportswear giants PUMA have officially signed Ajax forward, Kudus Mohammed.

The 20-year-old Academy graduate has signed a multifunction deal with PUMA as he climbs the ladder of his football career.

PUMA will provide the 20-year-old with their apparels such as boots, kits and free shopping every month plus an undisclosed fee.

Kudus is regarded as one of the highly-rated nimble-footed attacking midfielders in European football following his exploits at FC Nordsjaelland and Ajax.

He completed a €10.9 million move from Danish SuperLiga club FC Nordsjaelland to Dutch Eredivisie powerhouse Ajax Amsterdam last summer.

Mohammed Kudus wears Puma Ultra 1.1 soccer cleats in 2020-2021.

Kudus joins players such as Neymar, Kwadwo Asamoah, Antoine Griezmann, David Silva, Romelu Lukaku, Luis Suárez, Sergio Agüero, Marco Reus, Jan Oblak and Milan Škriniar who are also part of the “Puma Family”.

The former Nordsjaelland star scored over the weekend for Ajax in their 4-2 win over Sparta Rotterdam in the Eredivisie.

He has scored two goals and provided three assists in his 6 appearances for Ajax Amsterdam in his debut season.

Modernghana

Ex-Ghana defender Samuel Inkoom joins Georgian side FC Torpedo Kutaisi Listen to article

Former Ghana defender, Samuel Inkoom has joined Georgian top-flight side FC Torpedo Kutaisi.

The former Asante Kotoko right-back moves to the Ramaz Shengelia Stadium after leaving FC Samtredia, a side he joined in February 2020.

The 31-year old has played for clubs such as Basel in Switzerland among others.

The former Black Stars defender wrote on his Facebook wall announcing the transfer.

"I am happy to join one of the traditional club in Georgia. Lovely fans as well as Kutaisi Torpedo – one of the historical and titular clubs in Georgia, which has outstanding fans."

The defender made just 14 appearances for his former club Samtredia and found the back once during his stay at the club.

Inkoom has also featured 46 times for the Ghana Black Stars.

FC Torpedo Kutais have won the Erovnuli Liga four times, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2017.

They have also emerged winners of the Georgian Cup on four occasions- 1998–99, 2000–01, 2016, 2018.

The team is also two times winners of the Georgian Super Cup 2018, 2019.

Source – modernghana