Sports
Gaging sports gains in 2024
In 10 days’ time, the year 2024 will pass as one of the most eventful years for sports as a nation.
It may be so due to the myriad of sports activities that got the various national teams and individual clubs busy with international competitions.
But one may also be right in asking what is there to show for those adventures.
Truthfully, one would prefer to walk from Accra to Tema than attempting to answer such a question.
Although there were a few gains to celebrate, the weight of failure clearly overshadows it and leaves sports fanatics in wonder land; uncertain about the direction of sports in Ghana.
Taking stock of the country’s fortunes regarding sports is more or less an annual ritual that usually provide similar answers years in and out; and this year will be no exception.
On our sports calendar, football has been the busiest with the Black Stars involved in FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFCON 2025 qualifiers.
The latter left Ghanaians heartbroken with an unprecedented outcome.
In a group that had Angola, Sudan and Niger, the Black Stars failed to register a single win; losing three games and drawing the same number to finish at the rock bottom of the table with three points.
Eventually, the group was won by Angola’s Palencas Negras and Kwesi Appiah’s Sudan.
The USA, Canada and Mexico World Cup 2026 qualifiers, however, appears to be going well for the Stars with Ghana in second position behind Comoros with the same number of points – nine, out of four matches.
Other countries in Ghana’s group (Group I) include Madagascar, Mali, Central African Republic and Chad, the whipping boys in the group.
The Stars started the qualifers well, chalking a 1-0 home win over Madagascar but was pegged back by Comoros which beat Ghana 1-0.
The team, however, bounced back from that disappointment to beat Mali 2-1 in Bamako in one of the team’s finest performances in the year under review and recorded a 4-3 victory over the Central African Republic (CAF).
At the centre of the Black Stars performance storm was Head Coach Otto Addo who came under an avalanche of criticism for the team’s poor performance.
Ghana Football Association president, Kurt Okraku was also not spared of the backlash as his resignation became the clarion call on the lips of many.
But the two have shown they have very thick skin or might have developed a ‘dead goat’ syndrome, granting them the immunity to withstand the fiery darts of their critics.
On the continental level, FC Samartex and Nsoatreman FC made attempts to rescue Ghana’s free fall but that failed to materialise as their challenges in the CAF Champions League and Confederations Cup competitions collapsed before the league stages.
But there was success for Ghana in football following gold medal performances from the male and female teams in the African Games football competition.
It appears some successes were chalked at the sub-continental level with Kurt Okraku reaping a few results from the WAFU B level.
The Golden Arms, the national armwrestling team was obviously the best team having snatched a total of 41 medals at the African Games consisting of eight gold, 19 silver and 14 bronze medals.
Boxing recorded seven medals, athletics had six, weightlifting had three medals, hockey had two, and taekwondo recorded two medals while swimming had two and volleyball, one.
At the Paris Olympic Games, it was more of participation and acting as tourists than winning medals as Ghana fell short in all the disciplines competed.
But once again, it exposed the issues about poor preparation of athletes and lack of proper facilities back home to help local athletes.
Perhaps, one of the biggest shocks was the failure of the national boxing team, the Black Bombers to qualify for the Olympics.
Generally, it was not an encouraging performance from sports in the year. It actually marked a dip in performance as professional boxing failed to produce a world champion just like athletics, taekwondo, handball, badminton, table tennis, tennis and the others failed in their respective bids.
With a new government set to assume the reins of power and sports development to be championed by a new Sports Minister, it will be incumbent on the responsible agencies for sports development and promotion like the National Sports Authority (NSA) and the various sports federations to put their act together and work towards reviving Ghana sports to its past status.
By Andrew Nortey
Sports
Medeama dare Chelsea in Golden City Park …Hearts, Kotoko locked up in tough battles away
A blockbuster clash is expected at the Golden City Park at Berekum tomorrow, when former league champions, Medeama SC and Berekum Chelsea, cross swords in a top match day 17 Ghana Premier League fixture.
Games between the two sides have left fans at the edges of their seats, and tomorrow’s clash is expected to follow the status quo.
More so, Medeama will be coming up against their former technical head, Samuel Boadu, who, since leaving the club, has been a thorn in their flesh anytime he comes up against them.
With seven points separating them, Medeama SC lie seventh on the log, three places above their host, and will need to dig deep into their rich reservoir of form and experience to be able to come out of the ‘Golden City’ unscathed.
Premier League leaders, Kpando Heart of Lions, will also lock horns with third place, Nations FC, at the Kpando Sports Stadium.
A point separates both teams on the log, and that has drawn a lot of talking points, going into the game tomorrow.
Nations FC go into the game as one of the two best teams, with four away wins. This record is likely to influence play as leading goal scorer of the campaign, Faisal Charwetey, leads the line for the visitors.
Bottom club, Legon Cities, will stay put at the Legon Stadium to host 14th-placed, Dreams FC, at the University of Ghana Stadium in Legon.
That game is one for strugglers but has what it takes to generate the fireworks as they bid to snatch the points at stake to boost their survival quest.
Accra Hearts of Oak will travel to Samreboi to face Samartex 1996 in another game expected to produce a lot of thrills.
The Phobians have been on a good patch of form in recent times, chalking very important feat to claim a place at the upper part of the league table.
Playing away, they have shown resilience and courage and have not been intimidated at all, a situation that has made it difficult to brush them aside.
The story would not be different this time but the strength of the opposition would make it a more difficult encounter.
Samartex, after an impressive display in African club competition, appear to have taken the foot off the pedal and gradually dropping to the middle and lower ranks of the table.
This dip in performance is what they seek to bib in the bud as they welcome the Phobians in what can be described a do-or-die battle.
Porcupine Warriors Kumasi Asante Kotoko would welcome new boys, Vision FC, to the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi.
The Reds are obvious favourites in this encounter but they have been very inconsistent. That obviously presents a chance in the game as they aim to cause the biggest upset of the event.
In other games, struggling Accra Lions will welcome second-placed, Bibiani Gold Stars FC, at the WAFA Park in Sogakope; Nsoatreman FC will host Karela United at the Nana Konamansah Park in Nsoatre; Basake Holy Stars will return to the Crosby Awuah Memorial (CAM) Park to engage Aduana Stars, while Young Apostles and Bechem United battle each other in a Bono derby at the Wenchi Sports Stadium.
By Raymond Ackumey
Sports
Give us a Sports Minister of substance
It is that time of the political season where ‘Fellow’ Ghanaians will have to show their lobbying skills to catch the attention of a freshly elected and sworn-in president and his vice.
Like it is done in the legislature where ‘Honourables’ must work hard to get the attention of the Speaker, so must fellow Ghanaians scramble for space, swerve every obstacle to submit a Curriculum Vitae (CV).
Usually, one must be well connected to more powerful people closer to those on the corridors of power for a CV to land at the appropriate place.
The scramble at the end of the day is to be favoured and selected for a ministerial role. When one is successful and even cleared by the house of Honourables, the victor is likely to serve as a Minister of the state for a period only God knows.
For some, it is after this that they can beat the chest proudly and state “Yes, I have arrived.”
But it is mesmerising how the efforts of the ambitious ones can be thwarted by comments or suggestions from another set of fellow Ghanaians.
These kind of fellow Ghanaians are the ones that lacks the prerequisite to desire the aspirations of the ambitious group.
At least through various media platforms, they make their voices heard on who should be selected for which ministry and give reasons why.
This happens very often but as to whether it is heard at the corridors of power, it will be difficult to tell.
Happenings in the current political ‘cocoa’ season has been no exception. Certain offices have been inundated with a lot of these CVs that an announcement had to be made for it to stop.
It may have stopped but what will be difficult to stop, may be the lobbying and those offering words of advice on who should be selected and who should be ignored.
Ahead of the announcement of a Minister of Sports and recreation (MoSR), there have been a lot of conversation over who to consider for the post and what the person brings to the table.
Some have called for an abrasive leader, expecting him to be tough and have either a thick skin or develop a dead goat syndrome to deal with perceived ills in the sector.
Some have gone to the extent of choosing such people to specifically deal with some actions or persons at the Ghana Football Association (GFA); as if that is where all the problems of Ghana sports emanates from.
Some have come up with many other suggestions; all in a bid to get someone cut for the role of the Sports Minister.
This is gradually making the role of the Minister of sports and recreation as the most difficult one; and perhaps no longer education, finance and labour etc.
But whatever happens, the selectors must carefully consider the true needs of Ghana sports and have a good knowledge of it as well as it current administration globally.
If we say sports has become a business, the sports minister nominee must fathom what it means and what is required to make it so.
The nominee must know and accept that sports is not just football. Apart from football, Ghana has over 50 sports federations, all depending on the national cake for survival.
The decoupling of the youth from its functions and replaced by recreation should also aid the nominee in categorising these sports disciplines.
By the rule of competitive advantage, the nominee must decipher those with realistic chances of doing well to be pushed. What we need is a Minister of substance and be firm to all but fair.
By Andrew Nortey
