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Category: Sports

  • Mohammed Kudus sets West Ham record (Video)

    Mohammed Kudus sets West Ham record (Video)

    Mohammed Kudus, a Ghanaian sensation, made history at West Ham United by surpassing all other Ghanaian players in scoring records.

    Despite his incredible accomplishment, West Ham lost a heartbreaking seven-goal thriller to Newcastle United.

    Kudus, who only recently joined the Hammers in the summer, has quickly established himself as a key member of the squad. His influence was felt again when, in a hotly contested match against the Magpies, he scored with a brilliant finish just before halftime to give West Ham the lead.

    Nevertheless, despite Kudus’ valiant efforts, Newcastle produced a tremendous comeback and won 4-3.

    Kudus’ goal was a major turning point in the match, even though the loss was disappointing because it made him the highest-scoring Ghanaian player for West Ham, surpassing fellow countryman Andre Ayew.

    Surprisingly, Kudus accomplished this feat in just 35 games with 13 goals, as opposed to Ayew’s 12 goals in 50 appearances. Furthermore, Kudus has the most goal contributions of any Ghanaian in the Premier League—11 total—consisting of seven goals and four assists.

    Kudus has demonstrated his ability with a total of 13 goals in all competitions, showcasing his skill in the UEFA Europa League and the EFL Cup, among other competitions.

    Kudus’ incredible accomplishments and unwavering willpower shine through despite the disappointment of the loss, securing his place as a rising star in the Premier League and a vital asset for West Ham United.

  • Otto Addo returns as Black Stars coach

    Otto Addo returns as Black Stars coach

    The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has confirmed Otto Addo’s return to lead the Black Stars.

    The former Ghanaian international replaces Chris Hughton, who was fired after the team’s unsuccessful Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign in Ivory Coast earlier this year.

    Otto Addo’s appointment follows the search committee’s five-member recommendation for Black Stars Head Coach.

    GFA affirmed that they have extended an offer to Addo for a 34-month contract with a two-year option to extend.

    Otto Addo can take up the role permanently in May of this year if Borussia Dortmund agrees to release him during the March international window.

    Borussia Dortmund, a team in the Bundesliga, announced that Otto Addo will be leaving his position as a talent coach in the summer.

    He will return to Germany following the forthcoming international break, which they have also confirmed his release for.

  • Shatta Wale, King Promise to perform at All African Games opening ceremony

    Shatta Wale, King Promise to perform at All African Games opening ceremony

    Ghanaian Afro-dancehall star, Shatta Wale will share the grand stage with Afrobeats genius – King Promise at the opening ceremony of the 13th All African Games in Accra on March 8, 2024 at the newly opened University of Ghana Sports Stadium.

    Other great performers to grace the occasion include Highlife legends – Ebo Tayler and Pat Thomas not forgetting the South African singer and dancer, Kamo Mphela.

    The games, which are slated for March 8–23, will feature a variety of sports. Tickets ranges from GHc50 to GHc500 and available on the official website. You can also purchase your ticket by dialing *713*23#.

    Over 4,000 athletes competing in 29 sports disciplines, eight of which are qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, will make the continental event memorable.The 13th African Games, scheduled for March 8–23, 2024, will take place in Accra, Kumasi, and Cape Coast.

  • Borteyman Sports Complex to become Sports University

    Borteyman Sports Complex to become Sports University

    The Ministry of Youth and Sports announced that following the 2023 African Games, the recently constructed Borteyman Sports Complex will be transformed into a University for Sports Development.

    According to Sector Minister Mustapha Ussif, the action is intended to guarantee that the Complex’s amenities are kept in good condition.

    During his Monday, February 4, 2024, media briefing, the Minister made this statement regarding the arrangements for the African Games, which will take place in Ghana from March 8 to March 23.

    He claims that after the Games are over, the Borteyman Sports Complex will be transformed into a University for Sports Development.

    “To ensure the facilities are well maintained for the continuous benefits of the good people of our country, the facilities at Borteyman will be converted to the University for Sports Development after the Games…to ensure sustainability and legacy of these Games.”

    Currently, the multi-million dollar Borteyman Sports Complex houses a number of amenities, such as football fields, dormitories, a cafeteria, and a medical centre.

    The Sports Minister noted that “this will attract local and foreign sports federations to camp in Ghana and prepare for various competitions.”

    Establishing a Sports Development University out of the existing facilities will, according to Mustapha Ussif, “position Ghana as a sports hub within the West African sub-region.”

    The Borteyman Sports Complex will be the venue for sports like triathlons, table tennis, handball, volleyball, swimming, and badminton.

  • FIFA to establish a new football academy in Ghana – Arsene Wenger

    FIFA to establish a new football academy in Ghana – Arsene Wenger

    Arsene Wenger, Chief of Global Football Development at FIFA, has disclosed that the organisation responsible for overseeing football intends to establish an academy in Ghana.

    He claims that with the opening of academies, FIFA’s Talent Development Scheme will assist five African nations, including Ghana.

    FIFA plans to establish 75 academies worldwide by 2026; the other nations are Cameroon, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Zambia.

    “Over the next six months and one year, it’s to open more academies,” Wenger told Supersport in an interview.

    “We are now close to opening a new one in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ghana and Zambia and we want to develop five new academies there and, at the end of 2026, we’ll have 75 academies all over the world.

    “That means football education has moved forward and that’s what we’re focusing on at the moment. We want the game to be more competitive and of better quality and there is only one way to do it: it’s the quality of the education and quality of the competitions.”

    The Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ghana Football Association (GFA) are under intense pressure to make investments in the nation’s sporting facilities.

    Arsene Wenger
    The “Save Ghana Football” demonstration was a protest that took place last Wednesday with the goal of holding football authorities accountable.

    The conveners sent a petition to Alban Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, outlining some of the most important reforms that must be implemented, such as creating a national football policy and forming a commission to look into the underwhelming performance of the different national teams.

    The dissolution of national team management committees and accountability for the distribution of funds from competitions such as the World Cup were also high on the agenda.

  • FIFA Rankings: Black Stars drop to 67th, now ranked 14th in Africa

    FIFA Rankings: Black Stars drop to 67th, now ranked 14th in Africa

    Ghana has fallen six spots in the most recent FIFA World Ranking following a pretty underwhelming performance at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

    The Black Stars are still outside the top 10 in Africa according to the world football governing body’s release from Thursday, February 15, 2024.

    Ghana is now ranked 67th in the world, and the Black Stars are now 14th on the continent, behind countries like Mali and South Africa.

    The team’s poor performance at the AFCON, where they were unable to advance out of a group that included Egypt, Cape Verde, and Mozambique, is the reason behind the drop.

    After the Black Stars lost to Cape Verde and drew with Egypt and Mozambique in their group stage matches, head coach Chris Hughton was fired.

    Even though they were eliminated from the AFCON in the round of 16, Morocco is still ranked highest in Africa.

    Senegal is ranked second, followed in order by Nigeria, Egypt, and the recently crowned AFCON champions, Ivory Coast.

    In the continental rankings, South Africa completes the top ten, followed by Algeria in seventh place, Mali in eighth place, and Tunisia in sixth place.

    Argentina, the world champions, are first in the global ranking. The top five also includes France, England, Belgium, and Brazil.

    The following lists the top 10 African teams according to FIFA’s most recent global rankings:

    1. Morocco 
    2. Senegal 
    3. Nigeria 
    4. Egypt
    5. Ivory Coast 
    6. Tunisia 
    7. Algeria 
    8. Mali 
    9. Cameroon 
    10. South Africa
  • Netherlands football star Quincy Promes sentenced to six years in prison for drug trafficking

    Netherlands football star Quincy Promes sentenced to six years in prison for drug trafficking

    Quincy Promes, a forward for Spartak Moscow, was found guilty of drug trafficking by a Dutch court on Wednesday and given a six-year prison sentence in absentia.

    Promes, a former international for the Netherlands, did not show up for court proceedings in Amsterdam and is not anticipated to return there anytime soon.
    Promes was involved in the smuggling of 1,360 kg of cocaine into the Netherlands in two shipments in 2020 through the port of Antwerp, Belgium, and the prosecution last month requested a nine-year sentence for him.

    According to the court, phone tapping revealed Promes’ direct involvement in the drug shipments—which were concealed in shipments of Brazilian salt—and their subsequent transportation from the port.
    His attorneys told the Dutch daily AD Promes that he would file an appeal of the sentence because he contests the allegations that he imported, exported, transported, and owned the drugs.

    The 32-year-old former forward for Ajax Amsterdam and Sevilla was found guilty of assault last year in absentia. The incident involved a fight in 2020 during which he stabbed his cousin in the knee. This is just one of several court cases involving Dutch courts.

    SOURCE: Reuters

  • Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum: Marathon world record holder dies in road accident

    Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum: Marathon world record holder dies in road accident

    Kenya’s 24-year-old Kelvin Kiptum, the current world record holder in the men’s marathon, passed away in a car accident in his native nation, a Kenyan athletics official confirmed to the BBC.

    He was killed in an automobile on a road close to Eldoret, Rwanda, along with his coach, Gervais Hakizimana.

    In 2023, Kiptum surfaced as an adversary of fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge.

    In October of last year, he ran the 26.1 miles in Chicago, breaking Kipchoge’s world record in two hours and 35 seconds.

    His squad just revealed last week that he would try to run the course in under two hours at the Rotterdam marathon, which has never been accomplished in a public competition.

    Former prime minister and leader of the Kenyan opposition, Raila Odinga, said on X that the nation was mourning “a remarkable individual… and Kenyan athletics icon” and that it had lost “a true hero.”

    World Athletics president Sebastian Coe paid tribute to the young man, calling him “an incredible athlete leaving an incredible legacy, we will miss him dearly.”

    The rise to fame for the father-of-two had been rapid – he only ran his first full marathon in 2022.

    Four years prior, he had participated in his first significant competition while wearing borrowed shoes because he could not afford his own.

    He was one of a new generation of Kenyan athletes who started their careers on the road, departing from the custom of athletes initially competing on the track before moving on to longer distances.

    Last year, Kiptum told the BBC that his unconventional decision was merely the result of a lack of funding.

    He clarified, “I had no money to travel to track sessions.”

    Source | BBC News

  • Ivory Coast defeats Nigeria to win the AFCON championship

    Ivory Coast defeats Nigeria to win the AFCON championship

    A thrilling come-from-behind victory on home soil helped Ivory Coast defeat Nigeria in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final.

    With just nine minutes remaining, the team’s standout player, Sebastien Haller, scored the game-winning goal to seal the nation’s third continental crown.

    Simon Adingra’s cross was expertly flicked in by Haller, who had earlier scored the winner of the semi-final, using the tip of his boot. This goal brought the incredible comeback from the second half to a close and sent the home crowd into joyous celebrations.

    With a strong header from a corner kick by William Troost-Ekong, Nigeria had taken the lead in the first half.

    Franck Kessie, however, tied the score in the 62nd minute by nodding in Adingra’s corner unmarked after the Nigerian defence erred.

    Despite some impressive performances during the tournament, Nigeria failed to impose themselves throughout much of the match.

    Ivory Coast, on the other hand, dominated the game and deservedly won.

    With this accomplishment, Ivory Coast has now won three Nations Cups, having previously won in 1992 and 2015.

    Remarkably, they are the first host country to win since Egypt did so in 2006.

    The team’s remarkable wins over Senegal and Mali were largely attributed to interim coach Emerse Fae, who led the group through the knockout stages.

  • Asamoah Gyan was forced to drop Black Stars captaincy to Dede Ayew – Laryea Kingston

    Asamoah Gyan was forced to drop Black Stars captaincy to Dede Ayew – Laryea Kingston

    Laryea Kingston, a former Ghana international player, asserted that Asamoah Gyan is still upset about how Andre Ayew won the Black Stars captaincy over him.

    He claimed that Ayew “got the captaincy by force,” which is why Gyan was upset about the way things turned out.

    After almost five years as captain of Ghana, Gyan had his armband removed a few weeks prior to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

    The veteran striker was named general captain by national team coach James Kwesi Appiah, who also selected Ayew as his new captain.

    Gyan announced his retirement from the national team after being unimpressed with the decision, but he later changed his mind following President Akufo-Addo’s intervention.

    Gyan’s loss of the Black Stars captaincy serves as one example of how Laryea feels the national team’s management treats legends poorly.

    “Look at someone like Asamoah Gyan, Dede Ayew got the captaincy by force so if you are speaking to Asamoah now he is not happy,” he told Graphic Sport.

    “I never supported the Black Stars because of what they did to me for so many years, but recently I sat down and said, ‘Let me focus.’”

    However, Kwesi Appiah, the former coach of Ghana, thinks that removing Gyan from the Black Stars captaincy was the right move.

    Speaking on Prime Take on Joy News in 2023, Kwesi Appiah said he has a lot of respect for Gyan and made sure he informed the striker of the decision in a respectful manner.

    “I respect him a lot. That’s the reason why I called him to let him know the decision I was going to take and make him the general captain,” he said.