Sports
To start or not to start…
The re-start of the German football league –Bundesliga – has inspired hope among countries whose leagues were grinded to a halt due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
After back-and-forth engagement with German authorities over an appropriate date to recommence, having suffered from the brutal effect of the virus as a country, the competition continued under special guidelines to ensure the disease was not spread.
But for the failure of Hertha Berlin players to adhere to celebration protocols in their 3-0 win over Hoffeinham on Monday, there was no hitch.
It has sent clear signals to other league around the world including Ghana that the ‘Project restart’ was possible.
In England and other places, teams have assembled for training to commence.
However, their activities will be closely monitored by the authorities to ensure that guidelines like the regular testing, social distancing and other protocols were observed.
In Ghana, however, the discussion is ongoing with no date in sight to resume as there appears to be a sharp division among stakeholders over when it was safe to do so.
With the restrictions on public/social gathering still in force despite easing the restrictions, the FA’s hands are tied over when the restrictions will be eased entirely to restart the games.
The situation becomes even gloomier with the upsurge of confirmed positive cases, leaving stakeholders in a state of despair and hopelessness.
Interestingly, apart from King Faisal’s bankroller, Alhaji Grusah who openly and fiercely oppose talk about a restart, clubs appear to have been very meticulous in their pronouncements on the matter; preferring the FA to lead the process to return.
This is the more reason why the FA must be proactive in the covid-19 era and work closely with the authorities to find ways to bring the game back.
Obviously the signs on the wall do not suggest covid-19 is leaving now as Ghana’s case keep soaring despite assurance of reaching its peak.
Instead of waiting for government to ease the restrictions fully, the FA could come out with reasonable ideas that can convince all and sundry that football could return.
It could mean undertaking mandatory tests for all players and officials at the elite level to know the number of cases just as was done in England, Spain and Italy. It should include match officials and other workers on a match day.
The outcome will put the FA in a position to know the rate of infection among the main actors.
If the rate is very low, it could progress with the next phase of getting clubs ready to start training but under the same guidance with positive cases getting isolated.
Obviously, the matches will be played without the fans; suggesting that media for the games must also undergo compulsory test to run commentaries and provide match reports.
Based on its progress at this stage, the FA could also adopt some of the practices in some countries that want to accept fans but should do so under strict social distancing rule.
Organisers of the games must also ensure water, soap, alcohol based sanitizers were provided at the venues for nose-mask wearing fans or any other match day worker.
These would surely come at some cost which will not be left on the shoulders of the FA alone; the clubs must support.
However, the readiness of the clubs to ensure all of the above will help answer the myth to start the league or not.
BY ANDREW NORTEY
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
Resetting Ghana sports
In a few weeks’ time, returnee president, John DramaniMahama, will assume the reins of governance after taking his Oath of Office on January 7, 2025.
This follows the National Democratic Congress (NDC) historic feat in the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections held on December 7.
That ended the eight-year reign of President Nana AddoDankwaAkufo- Addo and his vice, DrMahamuduBawumia, of the New Patriotic Party.
It’s been less than a week after JDM’s declaration by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission who doubles as the Returning Officer of the presidential poll, Mrs Jean Mensa, but several calls and suggestions have been flying across the corridors of power.
For bitter NDC faithful, top NPP officials who were alleged to have been involved in shoddy deals should be whisked away by the police or the respective agency in charge of investigation.
Others have urged the new team to hit the ground running in a bid to alleviate the pain and difficulties in which Ghanaians find themselves.
Followers of sports are not left out in this regard. They want to see a lot of changes as part of a mammoth agenda to RESET the nation.
This may be coming on the back of the reality that Ghana sports in the past few years have been on a backward trajectory.
At the last Olympic Games in Paris, members of Team Ghana were mere passengers and tourists. The only excitement seen on the faces of Ghanaians was not as a result of a medal won but the sight of watching members fly Ghana flags during the opening ceremony.
The celebration was about the projection of Ghana as active and regular participants at the games but always far away from the medal podium.
The height of the disappointment was the Black Stars’ failure to qualify for the 2025 AFCON – the first miss in 20 years.
In a qualifying group that had Angola, Sudan and Niger, the Black Stars under Coach Otto Addo ended the qualifiers winless – drawing three and lost same.
That is not to suggest that the other national teams are performing any better.
Apart from the national U-20 team, the Black Satellites, that triumphed in the football event of the last edition of the African Games hosted in Accra, Ghana’s success in football has been in minor competitions in the West Africa Football Union (WAFU) B region.
It has been so with many or all of the sports disciplines operating under the National Sports Authority (NSA). Athletics, boxing (both pro and amateur), handball, volleyball, basketball, taekwondo, kickboxing, tennis, table tennis, cycling etc. are experiencing similar fate.
Maybe, the only shining light is the sport of arm-wrestling, Ghana’s Messiah at the African Games.
Obviously, this is not a good record for a country that considers herself as a sports nation and clearly remains one of the first and foremost sectors that needs resetting.
What is of paramount interest to Ghanaians at the moment are the qualifiers for the USA, Canada and Mexico 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Fortunately, the Black Stars languish in second spot with an important away victory over Mali doing the magic.
Under the upcoming administration, fans must see a new composure and attitude reset to meet the challenges to qualify for the World Cup.
Football on the local scene must also see an improvement in teams’ performances and administration.
The brains administering the game must also be reset to understand and admit that the local players are capable of delivering the same results from the foreign legion at a much cheaper cost.
The other disciplines would also need massive push to come up but in all of this, sports with comparative advantages must get the nod over those that should be reduced to recreational sports.
Above all, the sector will need a supervisor with a good knowledge about the area to lead the resetting agenda in order not to lose focus or fall to the conspiracytheories of the sophisticated administrators.
By Andrew Nortey
