Consultant to the Ghana Amateur and Professional bodies, Mr. Moses Foh Amoaning has disclosed that Ghana Boxing is going scientific, and it is time to change the face of the game from the base (juvenile) to the top.

Speaking at a meeting to bring back the love for boxing after Covid -19, he said he nation really lost dearly as the boxing fraternity was affected, however things are getting better and Ghana Boxing will get on its feet better.

He said Ghana Boxing is working in collaboration with the University of Health and Allied Sciences who have initiated a programme for members of the national juvenile and youth teams.

He said as plans are advance for the return of the Bukom Fist of Fury Fight Nights, and programme as well as events must be done well to attract the target audiences.

He stressed that structures have to be built for a solid foundation and future.

According to Mr. Moses Foh Amoaning, who is  former president of the GBA, the base of the sport is the young ones, so the juvenile and youth boxers must be fully supported by government and sponsors .

He said the university will present a research conducted some few weeks back which involves nutrition, phycology, physiotherapy and sports science.

He informed that there are 70 young boxers comprising the national juvenile and youth teams who are being monitored and catered by the Ghana Boxing Federation (GBF).  

By Sammy Heywood Okine

The much anticipated 8-round exhibition between retired boxing great, Floyd 'Money' Mayweather and Youtube sensation, Logan Paul ends in a draw as both failed to really light up the fight.

Floyd Mayweather: “When it comes to legalised bank robbery, I’m the best. Fighters in the sport of boxing, they make 3 to 4 million, my trunks alone, just the patches (sponsors), that’s 30 million. So, who’s really the smartest one in the sport of boxing?”

“I had fun. I’m not 21 anymore, but it’s good to move around with these young guys and test my skills,” Mayweather said. “Great young fighter. Strong, tough. He’s better than I thought he was. He’s a tough, rough competitor. It was good action. Had fun. Good little work. Good guy. I had fun.”

“I don’t want anyone to tell me anything is possible ever again. The fact that I’m in here with one of the greatest boxers of all time proves the odds can be beat,” Paul said. “Everyone can beat the odds and do great things in life! Floyd, it was an honor. I hate being a dickhead, I love you guys.”

“I’m gonna go home thinking, ‘Yo, did Floyd let me survive?’ But it’s an honor to grace the ring with him,” Paul said. “He’s tough to hit! He’s always tough to hit! Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul 2? I don’t know! Let me get a little better.”

Morocco’ Atlas Lions earned their first win over the Black Stars of Ghana in over 20 years following a 1-0 result in an international friendly on Tuesday.

Defender, Jawad El-Yamiq scored the game’s only goal in the 68th minute to set the homesters to jubilate.

The Moroccans hosted the Black Stars at the FAR Sportive stadium, in Rabat for the fixture to help their long term preparatory programme for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon as well as prepare for the World Cup qualifying campaign which starts in September.

Under Coach Vahid Halihodzic, Morocco had an unbeaten streak before the game and they were eager to keep that run going, ahead of the match.

The Atlas Lions started the game with top stars like Romain Sais, Achraf Hakimi, Adel Taarabt, Yassine Bono and Youssef El Nessyri and Munir El Haddadi.

Ghana coach Charles Akonnor on the other hand named a team without captain Andre Ayew – and Mohammed Kudus who played in his place lived up to the billing with an awesome performance.

Jordan Ayew led the lines for the Black Stars but failed to really sparkle in the game with Samuel Owusu and Joel Fameyeh playing through the lines.

Emmanuel Lomotey and Baba Iddrisu operated in the defensive midfield position for the Black Stars who set up in a typical 4-4-2 formation.

At the back, Ghana had Nicholas Opoku and Daniel Mensah at the heart of defense while Andy Yiadom and Gideon Mensah played right fullback and left fullback respectively.

There were not many chances in the first half as it ended goalless.

Back from the break, both sides made certain changes to personnel to freshen up the lineup.

Morocco took the lead following a goalkeeping mistake by Ghana’s Razak Abalora. The Asante Kotoko shot stopper failed to properly deal with a free kick from second half substitute Hakim Ziyech, allowing Real Valladolid center back, El Yamiq to take advantage.

Ghana’s skipper Andre Ayew came on in the second half but failed to find the equalizer.

This is the 3rd defeat for Coach Charles Akonnor in his 7 games in charge so far.

The Black Stars will play neighbours Ivory Coast on Saturday June 12 at the Cape Coast Stadium.

From Sammy Heywood Okine

The draw for the MTN FA Cup Round of 32 will be staged at the MTN House (Headquarters), Ridge on Thursday, June 10.

Eleven Premier League clubs, Twelve Division One League Clubs and Nine lower-tier sides will be in the hat for the draw which will begin at 11am.

The qualified teams have been zoned into three groups ahead of the Round of 32 draw on Thursday.

The zoning was done taking into consideration the locations of the teams in order to avoid long-distance trips for matches.

Below are the groups for Thursday’s draw:

Ghana will be participating in the world table tennis championships in Houston, USA in November this year.

Meanwhile, the President of the Ghana Table Tennis Association (GTTA), Mawuko Afadzinu has been elected as a Board Member of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the highest governing body of the sport.

This is the first time a Ghanaian has risen to the top echelons of world table tennis since Ghana joined the table tennis community in 1951.

At the 2021 General Assembly of the African Table Tennis Federation held virtually on Saturday, June 5 due to COVID-19, Mr.  Afadzinu alongside seven other African table tennis leaders were elected to serve for a period of four years.

This success chalked by him comes at a time when his administration successfully hosted the world junior and cadet championships in Ghana in 2019 for the first time in over a decade and also the setting up of a national table tennis training centre in Accra with a capacity of thirty-two (32) table tennis boards.

Mr. Afadzinu said ‘’ God willing, I will serve on the ITTF Board of Directors for the next four years. My primary role is to create opportunities for the table tennis fraternity and push the game to new horizons like never before”

“My three-prong strategy will be; understanding how the system works so that we can make it work for us, teaming up with the right folks to help us, and getting it done quickly and well.”

The 18-year-old American-born Ghanaian was named in post against the country of his mother on Tuesday

Japan’s Olympic Team defeated Ghana U23 by 4-0 on Tuesday morning in an international friendly.

After winning the first match between the two sides 6-0 on Saturday the head coach of the Blue Samurai decided to shuffle his cards and give opportunities to players who did not get the chance to feature in the first leg game.

Real Madrid’s Takefusa Kubo, Ao Tanaka, Yuki Soma were all left out of the team. Instead Union Berlin’s Endo Keita and other fringe players were given the chance.

In the end Zion Suzuki was introduced to be in between the sticks for the Japanese. Suzuki, 18, has a Ghanaian parentage through his mother. He was born to a Japanese father and a Ghanaian mother in the United States of America.

He lasted in the post for the entire period of the game as Japan mauled Ghana 4-0. The youngster plies his trade for Urawa Red Diamonds.

Source -Ghanasportsonline.com

Dr. Decius Chipande, the Coordinator for the African Union Sport Council has commended the Local Organizing Committee for their drive and enthusiasm as well as the hunger for success in organizing the Accra 2023 African Games.

The AU in charge of the Games arrived in Ghana on Friday, June 4 to assess infrastructure and Ghana’s preparedness for the continental competition.

Speaking at the Technical Committee for the African Games orientation workshop for the Local Organizing Committee for the 13th African Games, Ghana 2023, Dr. Decius Chipande stated;

“The Africa Union Sport Council stands ready to provide all the necessary support to enhance Ghana’s aspirations of hosting the best African Games the continent has ever held. I would like to encourage all of you members of the LOC to make an effort to familiarize yourselves with the Games’ foundation documents among them being the General Rules, Fundamental Regulations and Hosting Agreement to ensure consistency and avoid setting a precedence for future hosts.”

He further encouraged the government of Ghana to remain tenacious towards creating a Games legacy through sport and non-sport-related innovations. He stated that , the plans to establish a Multi-purpose Sports Complex need to be brought to fruition as such a complex becomes a corridor to stimulate Ghana’s sports tourism and commercialization of sport.

“ I would like to encourage the Director General of the NSA  to be wary of negative speculative narratives that may be peddled with the aim to divert attention from the big task at hand. All hands need to be on deck and eyes kept on the ball in spite of attempts to discourage and dismiss Ghana’s efforts towards successful hosting of the Games.”

The Director General of the National Sports Authority, Prof Peter Twumasi represented the Youth and Sports minister. In his speech, Prof Peter revealed

“Ghana is ready to welcome Africa in 2023. COVID-19, not withstanding its devastating effect in slowing down the process towards our preparation towards the 13th African Games, we are hopeful that very soon, the Host Nation Protocol Agreement will be signed and the construction and refurbishment of the required facilities will be ready in good time for the Games.”

“We want to use sports to accelerate the integration of the continent of Africa and to foster a close networking relationship among the youth of Africa.

We also believe that sports should be used to prevent crime, create jobs, empower women, enhance social inclusion, improve health and fitness, foster peace and unity, increase economic growth, prevent drug abuse and improve social cohesion and community identity among others.

For these and other reasons, Ghana places a lot of premium on the development and organization of sports. That is why Ghana sees the hosting and organization of the 13th African Games as an opportunity to contribute towards the use of sports as a tool to develop our beautiful continent-AFRICA.”-he added .

By: Ayishatu Zakaria Ali / Happy Sports

MTN Ghana carried the day by winning seven awards at the 6th Africa Finance Innovation Awards held over the weekend, making the organization the highest recipient of the night.

MTN received awards in the following categories;

• Investor Relations Team of the Year
• Corporate Performance Team of the Year
• Finance Team of the Year – Telecom
• Finance and Innovation Award - Telecom

In addition to the corporate awards, MTN received three personality awards.

The Acting Chief Finance Officer of MTN Ghana, Mr. Kobina Bentsi-Enchill has been adjudged the Most Promising CFO of the Year. MTN Group Chief Financial Officer, Madam Tsholofelo Molefe and the former Chief Finance Officer of MTN Ghana, Mr. Modupe Kadri were named among top 25 CFOs in Africa.

The Finance team has also been recognized as the Team of the Year for the fourth consecutive time and for the second consecutive time, MTN was adjudged Investor Relations Team of the Year and Corporate Performance Team of the Year.

Receiving the awards, the Acting CFO at MTN Ghana, Mr. Kobina Bentsi-Enchill expressed appreciation to the organizers for the awards. He dedicated the awards to the Finance Team, MTN Customers, Suppliers and Vendors.

Commenting on the awards, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Selorm Adadevoh commended Kobina for his leadership skills and congratulated him for the Can Do, team spirit and the zeal exhibited in ensuring the Finance team continues to deliver on its mandates in Ghana and beyond.

“MTN as a good corporate citizen continues to abide by the laws of Ghana and ensures prompt filing and payment of taxes over the years which was acknowledged by the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo in his address at the launch of MTN’s 25th Anniversary celebration” he added.

Selorm thanked Kobina and the Finance team for the sterling performance and congratulated Tsholofelo Molefe and Modupe Kadri for being named among the top 25 CFO’s in Africa.

The 6th Africa Finance Innovation Awards recognized corporate institutions that have gone beyond responding and recovering by transforming and rebuilding their organization in the new normal for a stronger future following the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Africa’s economic development.

The Finance Innovation Awards has been rebranded over the years. The awards organized by Instinct Business, from inception named the awards CFO Awards, rebranded to Ghana Finance Innovation Awards and now Africa Finance Innovation Awards.

MTN Ghana’s Finance Management and Innovation continues to be recognized over the years. MTN has won 15 awards from 2016 to 2019.

Source MTN Ghana

Ghana Rugby Football Union (GRFU), has officially removed from office, Herbert Mensah as president of the Union.

The meeting which was held earlier today had all six members voting in favour of the motion to remove the former Asante Kotoko Chief Executive Officer(CEO) from office, a statement available to JoySports said.

Vice-Chairman, James Nunoo will act as leader of the Union, but the position of President remains vacant until an elective assembly is organised on September 20, 2021.

 “The removal of Mr. Mensah follows a period of impasse in the governance of Ghana Rugby that stretched over the period from 25th April 2021 till the 8th of June 2021. Mr. James N.A. Nunoo was subsequently appointed as Chairman of the Board at a meeting of Board Members that was directed by the SGM to do so.

“The Presidency will be left vacant until the next Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Ghana Rugby that has to be held not later than 20th September 2021 as directed by the SGM.”

Mr Nunoo made a short statement saying, “We are pleased and relieved that Ghana Rugby has managed to restore legitimacy to its governance structures. It was a sad short period in Ghana Rugby’s life that should and could have been avoided.”

Mr. Nunoo continued that “the removal of Mr. Mensah can and will never wipe the contributions he has made to the development of the game of Rugby in Ghana, and that Ghana Rugby will forever be grateful for that.”

The Ghana Rugby Board ordered an investigation into the impasse that led to thr removal of Herbert Mensah to curtail the repetition of that.

Last month, Herbert Mensah went to the Accra High Court, pleading the court to nullify all meetings held that led to his suspension from office. A request was also made to injunct the board from holding further meetings because it was unconstitutional.

The application for interlocutory injunction, JoySports understands, was not granted and the substantive matter will be heard on June 23, 2021.

The SGM, say all meetings held were legitimate.

“The SGM also approved various other Motions that included the legitimizing of all meetings held over the period stretching from 25th April 2021 up to the date of the SGM on 8th June 2021. This includes a Resolution adopted at a Board Meeting on 11th May 2021 to suspend Mr. Mensah.

Source: myjoyonline.com

Uganda's first female boxer, Catherine Nanziri ready for Tokyo Olympic Games this summer

As Uganda gears to participate in the sport of boxing at this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, Catherine Nanziri will be the first-ever female boxer to represent the East African nation.

The budding athlete and trailblazer hopes to inspire other girls who aspire to greatness.

The young impressive has worked hard to get to this point.

"I feel proud of myself because it is a prayer that every sportier could have prayed to go for the Olympic Games and being the chance that I am the first female boxer it has given me a good profile depending on the sport and the future."

Ugandan athletes have typically excelled in the sport of boxing -- always with great chances at bringing home medals.

Nanziri qualified for the big games based on ranking twelfth in the world and fourth in Africa.

She may be soft-spoken with a perhaps non-intimidating appearance at first sight. But the athlete insists that this part of her charm as a boxer.

"I am a unique person, I think, my name is pure, it means purity. So I love to be unique in sport or the environment around me so I decided to join boxing, being that I wanted to look like an inspiration to the young ladies in the school where I started boxing from."

Pure indeed. Pure talent and skill as a silent KO-force in the ring, perhaps?

"When I am looked at by people they think I cant box and that's the weapon I use in the ring and it has been very nice to me because once I enter the ring they say she is dead but once they say box ...it is a very tough game and I think I will win."

Uganda's athletes have already brought home a total of seven Olympic medals -- four of which were worn in the boxing competitions.

The nation of coffee hopes to win gold this summer.

National boxing team and welterweight boxer captain Shadir Musa -- believes he and his teammates are more than equal to the task.

"We have a lot of talent here and into boxing, we are too aggressive and we know we are born talented in that but only that we got some small lacks or something that is lacking in for us to do what we have to do so that we go back to our positions where we used to be, where they used to know us as the best boxers or in the country that produces the best boxers in Africa and all over the world. But for me on my side I know that we all have the chances, we three have the chances of doing that again and putting Uganda on the map again."

Between the pioneering female flyweight Catherine Nanziri, middleweight David Ssemujju and welterweight captain Musa.

Uganda has a fighting chance to bring home the gold this summer from the Tokyo Games.

By Kizzi Asala and Africanews with AFP