Ghana's facilities for Accra 2023 Para Games will be the inspection lenses of Africa's sports body, the Confederation of African Amputee Football, before the competition begins.

The three-day inspection tour by CAAF would be the final official visit ahead of the Accra 2023 Para Games finals.

Accra will host ten qualified African Nations to compete in Amputee Football, which begins from 3rd to 12th September 2023.

CAAF's team for the tour is to be led by Celeste Maria Do Rosario, Vice President of the World Amputee Football Federation and Mr Usman Mustafa Shalanyuy, Vice President of the Confederation of African Amputee Football Federation and the Technical Director Mr Bizimana Dominique have arrived in Accra early hours of Thursday 8th June 2023 in the capital, Accra, for the inspection tour of venues and facilities put up by Ghana to host the competition.

On their schedule, CAAF's inspection team will pay a courtesy visit to the Hon. Mustafa Ussif, Minister of Youth and Sports and MP for Yagaba Kubore, at his office to express general satisfaction with the progress made to host the first-ever African Para Games and further discuss Ghana's Amputee Football.

Ghana's LOC has already penned Accra Sports Stadium, Wembley Park, Adjiringano AstroTurf, and Legon Stadium to host Angola, Tanzania, Morocco, Kenya, Cameroon, Gambia, Nigeria, Egypt, Rwanda and Ghana.

Source NPC Ghana

The Memory Lane PGA 2023 tournament takes place at Royal Golf Club Kumasi from Tuesday 6th June to Friday 9th June 2023.

The four-day tournament professional medal event has at stake 4500ghc for the winner while the 18th position takes home 2000 GHC, The number of players will be reduced to equal the total of prizes of eighteen golfers after the second day.

The tournament will be played according to the rule of Royal & Ancient Golf Club, St Andrew and the local rules of Royal Golf Club Kumasi. However, in the event of a tie for the first position, there will be play-off to determine the winner of the tournament.

Equally, if any round is not completed due to rain or unforeseen situation, the winners will be decided on the number of holes completed for the tournament.

There is a side attraction of Quest Tour division which comprises of Amateur scratch players with handicap 5 and below who are competing to gain entry to become professional golfers.

In this division the players will play from Tuesday 6th June to Thursday 8th June 2023 without any cut-off.

The President of Ghana Golfers Association, Kwaku Okyere and that of PGA Ghana President Mark Cofie jnr and other personalities are expected to grace the tournament.  Nevertheless, if the players are lucky enough, they might catch the presence of Otumfuo Osei Tutu 11 Asantehene of the Ashanti Kingdom.

The PGA Ghana’s Director of Operations Ahmed Padori said preparations are advanced to ensure a successfully organization of the Kumasi version of the Memory Lane PGA championship, and urged golfers to intensify their preparation for the competition.

Meanwhile, two other championship qualifiers are to be staged by Achimota Golf Course and Celebrity Golf Club at Sakumonu.   The Memory Lane PGA championship will  herald the main PGA championship coming up at the Damang Golf Course, Tarkwa in the Western region. 

By Sammy Heywood Okine

The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation has set the draw for the 2023 African Paralympics wheelchair basketball discipline.

The draw for the men’s category has host nation Ghana paired against Algeria and Uganda in group A.

Egypt, Kenya and Senegal are to settle for scores in group B.

Group C consists of South Africa, Nigeria and the Central African Republic.

Group D has Morocco, Angola and DR Congo to battle for the slots.

The African Para Games is set to take place between 3^rd to12th September 2023 in Accra Ghana.

Eden Heights is the venue slated to host wheelchair basketball.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

The Black Meteors of Ghana will soon leave the shores of Ghana for Egypt ahead of the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations to be hosted in Morocco.

The team started preparations for the tournament on May 23, 2023, at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence at Prampram with twenty-local-based players but will travel to the North African country to complete their pre tournament camping.

The team will be pruned to a final minimum number of twenty-three who will represent the country at the 2023 edition of the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations.

The final team is expected to be made up of a mix of foreign and local-based players with the likes of Ernest Nuamah, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, and Kamaldeen Sulemana expected to be in the final squad for the tournament.

Ghana has been drawn in Group A with host nation, Morocco, Guinea and Congo who are both debutants in the tournament.

The tournament will start on June 24, 2023, with the top three earning an automatic spot in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Source CitiSports

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has introduced the sports of Tug of War and Pillow Fight at the Pre-Tertiary Education level.

This comes after the Ghana Tug of War and Pillow Fight Federation wrote to GES requesting official approval for the sports to be introduced in basic schools. 

The GES following the approval, entreated the Federation to liaise with the PE & Sports Unit to enable to enable the Federation plan and organize how to roll out programmes and activities for the introduction of the two (2) sports to unearth, nurture young talents and encourage them to participate in our Districts and Schools without disrupting the teaching and learning periods.

“Accordingly, Management is by this letter requesting Regional Directors to officially inform Metro, Municipal and District Directors and Heads of Second Cycle Institutions that approval has been granted for the introduction of Tug of War and Pillow Fight in our schools.

It is the expectation of Management that the Federation will strictly adhere to the directives to ensure smooth and continuous running of the sports in our schools,” a letter signed by Stephen Kwaku Owusu, Acting Deputy Director-General, said.

Credit StarrFm

The showdown of the summer heads to the desert in a battle that has all the makings of an instant action classic.

Three-division world champion Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete will defend his WBO junior lightweight world title against former two-division world champion Oscar Valdez in an all-Mexican duel Saturday, August 12 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

Navarrete and Valdez seek to etch their names among the celebrated catalog of Mexican rivalries that includes Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales, Ruben Olivares-Chucho Castillo and Rafael Marquez-Israel Vazquez.

Navarrete-Valdez will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Promoted by Top Rank, ticket information will be announced shortly.

“Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez are proud warriors, and this is a fight that is destined to go down as a classic,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “The fight fans at Desert Diamond Arena and everyone watching on ESPN are in for a real treat. The winner of this fight etches his name among the great Mexican fighters. I can’t wait.”

Navarrete (37-1, 31 KOs), the fighting pride of San Juan Zitlaltepec, captured his first world title by defeating Isaac Dogboe for the WBO junior featherweight crown in December 2018. He made five defenses before moving up to featherweight, where he beat Ruben Villa for the vacant WBO title in October 2020. The 28-year-old defended his belt with victories over Christopher Diaz, Joet Gonzalez and Eduardo Baez before moving up to 130 pounds. In February, Navarrete joined an elite list of Mexican three-division champions — including Morales, Barrera and Julio Cesar Chavez — by defeating Liam Wilson via ninth-round TKO for the WBO junior lightweight world title.

Navarrete said, “After so much time, this fight will finally take place. Obviously, I am 100 percent motivated because Valdez is still a big threat, and a fight against him could possibly be the start of a new Mexico vs. Mexico rivalry like the one between Barrera and Morales.”

Valdez (31-1, 23 KOs), from Nogales, represented Mexico at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. As a pro, he captured the WBO featherweight world title against Matias Rueda in 2016 and made six successful defenses. He moved up to junior lightweight and defeated Adam Lopez in 2019 and Jayson Velez in 2020 before taking on his toughest challenge, a WBC title tilt against Miguel Berchelt in February 2021. Despite disadvantages in height, reach and power, Valdez counterpunched his way to three crushing knockdowns, the last of which earned him a 10th-round KO. After a competitive fight against Olympic gold medalist Robson Conceição later that year, Valdez suffered his first defeat in a title unification battle against Shakur Stevenson in April 2022. He bounced back by defeating Lopez in a rematch in the co-feature to the Devin Haney-Vasiliy Lomachenko super fight last month, and he now hopes to equal Navarrete as a three-time world champion.

Valdez said, “I’m excited to return to the ring, especially because it’s for a world title against ‘Vaquero’ Navarrete. Being a world champion is something that I always dreamed of. I already did it two times, and this is yet another opportunity. So, I’m excited and prepared both mentally and physically for this new opportunity. And I like that it’s between two Mexicans because it’s a win-win for Mexico. It’s a guaranteed war when there are two Mexicans in the ring.”

Source Random Hits

London-born Ghanaian Terrell Agyemang will sign a two-year deal with Middlesbrough when his contract at Manchester City expires at the end of the month.

The 20-year-old defender/midfielder won the Premier League 2 with the Cityzens in the just concluded campaign.

Access Bank has renewed its sponsorship of the Ghanaian Division One League.

The popular bank extended its support for the Division One League after a successful first year of partnership.

The Director of Marketing at the Ghana Football Association, Jamil Maraby paid a courtesy call on the bank following the end of a competitive season.

He met Managing Director of the Bank Olumide Olatunji, who confirmed the extension of their sponsorship with the hopes of unearthing talents for the country.

“We continue to invest in football and particularly the DOL because that is the pipeline for developing talents," he said.

“Our goal is to see these talents evolve into national and international footballers who will in turn give back to impact their communities."

Mr Maraby expressed gratitude to Access Bank for their continued support for Ghana football.

“Thanks to the continued financial investments by Access Bank Ghana. We expect to see an uplift in facilities and development of football in Ghana," said Maraby.

Following a rigorous campaign, Nations FC, Bofoakwa Tano and Hearts of Lions secured promotion to the Ghana Premier League.

Ghanasoccernet

President of the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA), Mr. Abraham Kotei Neequaye who was at the recent 38th Convention of the International Boxing Federation IBF in Chicago in the United States of America spoke on behalf of some Ghanaian boxers who are doing well to be rated and given promotional offers.

According to the man whose tenure in office has seen more bouts in Ghana, due to the Professional Boxing League, there are quality boxers who can fight at the world level on the big stage.

He mentioned George Ashie who has relocated to the United States and hard working Musah Lawson, undefeated National Welterweight Champion with 10 wins and no loss.

At the Convention, Mr. Neequaye also named former WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Isaac Dogboe and Super Featherweight, Alfred Lamptey to be considered.

He said if the boxers are rated, they know that there can be a chance or opportunity.

He urged Ghanaian boxers, especially the National Title holders to work hard to gain international recognition and rating.

He announced that the Ghana Professional Boxing League will bounce back after the lifting on the ban on drumming and noise making in the GaAdangbe jurisdiction.

The Boxing League has been regular programme that attracts sports and entertainment fans. It is staged by Imax Boxing Promotions with the support of the GBA.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

The Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) has struck a strategic relationship with Turkish Airlines.

The imperative relationship ensures two SWAG executive members, Messrs Kwabena Yeboah and Augustine Ohene Bampoe Brenya will be in Istanbul on Saturday for the grand finale of the UEFA Champions League between England’s Manchester City and Italy’s Inter Milan.

Spelling out the rationale behind the partnership, the General Manager of Turkish Airlines Ghana, Mr Aytekin Serbest stressed the importance of Sports journalism in the broader context of Ghana as a passionate football nation.

“As the foremost Airline in Europe, we have a responsibility to aid Sports Journalists who we consider strategic partners. In this regard we feel committed partnering SWAG for the upcoming UEFA Champions League,” he said.

The President of SWAG Mr Kwabena Yeboah thanked Turkish Airlines for their collaboration and hoped this will spell the beginning of a long standing relationship.

Turkish Airlines is regarded the best Airlines in Europe as it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, making it the largest Airline carrier in the world by number of passenger destinations.

SWAG