New Cuban champion Robeisy Raminez has indicated that he is not interested in giving Ghana’s Isaac Dogboe a rematch after the latter lost on points in their action packed bout for the vacant World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Featherweight Championship at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa in Oklahoma, USA.

Ghanaian boxing fans are now asking what the future would be for their idol who is the highest rated boxer from the boxing nation.

Ghana is always proud to be called a boxing nation for producing 10 world champions in the past, but currently there is no potential world titlist, though there are a few rising stars.

Isaac Dogboe, 28 has been the hope and now that he lost the chance to become a two times world champion, the question everyone is asking is about his future.

However, ‘The Royal Storm’ as he is known is not giving up. He apologized to his fans and admirers for the defeat and promised that he will certainly return, maybe fight for another belt in the same division.

Meanwhile, Joet Gonzalez who is rated by the various bodies, whom he (Dogboe) beat before facing 29-year-old Ramirez is also calling for a rematch.

But looking at the world ratings, and the other bodies, he is only rated by the WBO, and not in the WBC, WBA or IBF.

So boxing fans are wondering how he can come back to claim another title belt.

The world boxing scene is full of politics and tricks, so if he has links, he can certainly make it as promised.

He has already indicated speaking to an official of the WBO and promotions outfit, Top Rank who has assured him of a fight by the end of the year.

Here is a list of the (March 2023) champions and contenders rated in the other world boxing bodies for the perusal of boxing fans. Ramirez who was number 2 contender in WBO is now the champion: 

WBC

Champion Rey Vargas

1 Michael Conlan

2 Josh Warrington

3 Leigh Wood

4 Joet Gonzalez

5 Reiya Abe

6 Nick Ball

7 Kiko Martinez

8 Satoshi Shimizu

9 Ruben Villa

10 James Dickens

11 Lerato Dlamini

12 Ryosuke Iwasa

13 Jesse Magdanelo

14 Ryo Sagawa

15 Otabek Kholmatov

WBA

Champion Mauricio Lara

1 Otabek Kholmatov

2 Raymond Ford

3 Mirco Cuello

4 Luis Nunez

5 Leigh Wood

6 Josh Warrington

7 Jessie Magdaleno

8 Anselmo Moreno

9 Thomas Patrick Ward

10 Joet Gonzalez

11 Arnold Khegai

12 Reiya Abe

13 Brandon Benitez

14 James Dickens

15 Lisandro Barazarte

IBF

Champion Luis Lopez

1 NOT RATED

2 Kiko Martinez

3 Reiya Abe

4 Josh Warrington

5 James Dickens

6 Michael Conlan

7 Otabek Kholmatov

8 Ryo Sagawa

9 Raymond Ford

10 Lerato Dlamini

11 Arnold Khegai

12 Jordan Gill

13 Hinata Murata

14 Toshiki Shimomachi

15 Brandon Benitez

WBO

Champion Robeisy Ramirez

1 Isaac Dogboe

3 Michael Conlan

4 Arnold Khegai

5 Sergio Sanchez

6 Josh Warrington

7 Reiya Abe

8 Nick Ball

9 Joet Gonzalez

10 Ruben Villa

11 Raymond Ford

12 James Dickens

13 Brandon Benitez

14 Toshiki Shimomachi

15 Otabek Kholmatov

By Sammy Heywood Okine

Athletics Ghana has invited over 900 young athletes from 30 schools across the 16 regions of Ghana to meet in the Garden City, Kumasi for the first edition of the 2023 National Inter-Schools Athletics Championships.

The two-day meet, fixed for the 4th and 5th of April, 2023, at the Baba Yara Stadium, will provide a platform for school children under the age of 20 to showcase their athletics talent to officials of the Athletics Ghana.

The Athletics Ghana aims to use the competition to select talented athletes to represent Ghana at the 2023 African U18 and U20 scheduled to come off in Zambia from April 29-3 May.

The competition will start at 8am each day and is open free to the general public.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

“A Sparkling Future”, designed by 27-year-old Brazilian Dante Akira Uwai, has been announced as the winner of the  Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Gangwon 2024  medal design competition. This year’s contest saw a record-breaking 3,000 proposals submitted for the chance to design the obverse of the medals that will be handed out to the best athletes at next year’s YOG.

“A Sparkling Future” is a geometric interpretation of the Gangwon 2024 motto “grow together, shine forever”. The concept of growth is conveyed through vertical lines, while the diverse group of participants in the YOG is represented by elements created through cut-outs and texture changes. The variety of shapes and forms depicts diversity and how we can all contribute to peace and coexistence in difference ways. The polished finishes create dynamic little sparks of light, symbolising the desire to surpass ourselves and make positive changes in the world.

“I didn't want the medal to be a frame for a painting, only to be looked at,” Uwai said. “I wanted it to be treated as a sculpture. Something that could be picked up, viewed from different angles, and felt for its texture. I think the medal has a lot of that and this was very important to me.”

The young designer was unable to contain his emotion upon finding out: “Winning recognition like that, out of 3,000 submissions, is very important to me and I will cherish it for the rest of my life,” he said. “In Brazil, there is a saying: ‘What differentiates an artist from other people is not talent, but a burning need to create.’ That's something that resonates with me.” 

Twenty-four-year-old Zakea Page of New Zealand was involved in the selection of the medals. Page’s creation, entitled “Beauty in Diversity”, was chosen for the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020. Speaking about the winning entry for Gangwon 2024, he said: “This design is a worthy winner and a beautiful interpretation of the values of the Youth Olympic Games.” He added: “To me, it is reminiscent of the traditional paper lanterns that are a hallmark of Republic of Korea's celebration, hanging like canopies around temples and in parades... even dotted throughout the streets of Seoul.”

The runner-up in the medal design competition for Gangwon 2024 is 27-year-old artist Luisa Valencia Gomez of Colombia, who designed “The Road to Victory”. Third place goes to 32-year-old graphic designer Carlos Alejandro Castañeda Arenas of Mexico, with his design “Land of Dreams”.

The prototype made by Uwai will now be refined while in parallel, the reverse of the medal will be designed by the Gangwon 2024 YOG Organising Committee, and will reflect elements of Korean culture as well as the YOG emblem.

The medal design competition for the Winter YOG Gangwon 2024 came to a close on 8 March, with an unprecedented number of designs received and countries participating. During the six-week period of the competition, over 3,000 medal designs were submitted from 120 countries, showcasing the creativity and talent of the designers. This was 10 times more entries than for the medal design competition for the previous Winter YOG. The top countries, in terms of submissions this year, were Mexico, India and the USA, followed by the Republic of Korea and Brazil.

The winning design will be used on the medals awarded to the athletes who finish on the podium at the fourth edition of the Winter YOG, to be held in Gangwon, Republic of Korea, from 19 January to 1 February 2024.

Source IOC

Sisu Tomegah, with a breathtaking display of power and unnerving composure, won her first title in 2023 by defeating Precious Nunana from Ho Tennis Club 6-3, 6-1 in the InterRecruit College Scholarship Tennis Tournament at the National Tennis Center, Accra.

It was a dramatic, dizzying 55 minutes contest utterly befitting a major final. Sisu-Makena converted her fourth when a Precious forehand sailed long.

 “I think it’s even more enjoyable, I would say, after all those tough matches’. “I’m super happy that I was able to handle all those emotions and win this one.” Sisu-Makena Tomegah.

Sisu-Makena received the InterRecruit College Scholarship Tennis Tournament Trophy from Founder of InterRecruit Foundation, Sadia Mayou, whom she thanked for everything she’s done for Ghana Tennis.

In the Boy’s final, Winneba based Raphael Nii Ankrah continued his blistering form to claim his first title of the year by prevailing over Caleb Aryettey in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

"I'm thrilled, today was a tough match, it’s the best start to the season I have ever had. Amazing number of points won and looking forward to the season even more”, said Raphael Nii Ankrah.

Speaking to ghanatennis.org, the Founder of InterRecruit Foundation said, I am happy we have been able to successfully organise a tournament in Ghana.  With my few days in Ghana, I can boldly say, this country is blessed with an abundance of talents. InterRecuit Foundation is here to help these players get admission to College.

Sadia added that, I want to use this opportunity to thank all the Ghanaian former tennis players who came on board to support me, I am truly grateful.  

The weeklong event was sponsored by InterRecruit Foundation with support from Ghana Tennis Federation, Darko and Byrd tennis academy, Gunther Darkey, Salifu Mohammed, Bishop Frank Ofori, Emmanuel Mensah Tennis and School foundation, Michael Nortey Tennis and school foundation, Owusu Danso Manford, Robert Mensah Kpodo, Herman Abban Tennis and Educational Foundation, Ojatson Sports Foundation, REYBERT Tennis, George Darko Foundation, BS Hymtic Engineering Company Limited, Tennis Foundation Ghana, PMSports Foundation, TSWAKO Foundation, Accra Open, Fine Natural Mineral Water, Egalite Sports Bar and Restaurant and Nailed by Shey.

Story: Gabriel Amoakoh

The International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP), on 6 April, provides a fitting platform to celebrate how sport is serving young people and underprivileged communities on a daily basis, embodying the universal nature of the IOC’s mission and the Olympism365 strategy.

The Olympafrica centres in Africa, run by the Olympafrica Foundation, are an example of how sport can drive positive changes and offer education opportunities to younger generations across the continent.

On any given day, the Zambian Olympafrica Centre, located in the grounds of the Zambian Olympic Youth Development Centre in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, will welcome up to 1,000 children – many from difficult economic backgrounds. At the Centre they have the opportunity to take part in not only a varied programme of 12 sports – from football to taekwondo – but also a range of educational and social activities.

The Zambian Centre is one of more than 40 run by the Olympafrica Foundation spread across over 30 countries, with a further nine centres under construction. Created in 1988, the Olympafrica Foundation is dedicated to enabling African countries and their communities to benefit from the positive impact of Olympism, and has become a powerful vehicle through which the Olympic values are promoted across the continent. Run by the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) and supported by the IOC, its core mission is to promote social development by increasing access to opportunities – both sporting and social, economic and educational.

Local networks driving development

Tinyiko Lucert Kamanga, the Director of the Olympafrica Centre in Zambia, has seen its impact first hand. “Working at the Centre, I have had the opportunity to see what sport can bring, and the values it teaches,” explains Kamanga. “It can literally transform your sense of thinking, on the field and off it. That’s the power of sport.”

Fundamental to the work of the Foundation is a powerful sense of community. Kamanga is the Zambia Centre’s only full-time employee, but she is supported by a cast of volunteers: a team of 40 young leaders trained in the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP), plus 12 volunteer coaches and 10 community teachers.

All corners of a vast continent

Despite the differing contexts, the aim remains the same at each of the Olympafrica Foundation’s centres: empowering local communities through the Olympic values.

The Soubré Olympafrica Centre in southern Côte d’Ivoire offers a programme of 17 sports disciplines and five socioeconomic activities. There is even a school on site, alongside a nursery and a canteen. Officially, around 10,000 young people are enrolled at the Centre, with 550 of those at the school and nursery, but in reality it serves many more. While sport is a large part of the Centre’s work – a recent wrestling tournament was attended by 2,000 children and young adults, including 500 female wrestlers – the school and nursery are powerful examples of the Olympafrica Foundation’s commitment to wider social development. It is one of three schools run by the Foundation, with the other two in Mozambique and Mali.

The school has since become part of the national educational system in Côte d’Ivoire. Daniel Anzara, the Centre’s Director, has witnessed the multi-dimensional impact the Centre has on the community, and the ripple effect it has created. 

“Parents thought that it would be a good idea for the children to get food during the day, and that’s how the canteen started,” Anzara says. “Then, to help provide food for the canteen, we started a rice farming programme. This year, we extended that agriculture project to include cassava and maize, with around 40 people signed up and benefiting from jobs.”

Olympism365 in action

It is through initiatives such as those in Soubré and Lusaka that the Olympafrica Foundation is helping to drive increased and more equitable access to sport and its benefits in the areas of education, health and economic stability, demonstrating its contribution to the Olympism365 strategy’s “sport, equality and inclusive communities” portfolio.

For Anzara, the support from the Olympic Movement empowers his day-to-day work. “Being associated with the Olympics has an impact,” explains Anzara. “It’s universal, it’s about civility, fair play, love, being together. Olympafrica means Olympism for Africa. It’s truly about the strength of sport, and the help that sport can bring.”

Thanks to the work of Anzara, Kamanga and the Olympafrica centres all across the continent, thousands of young Africans feel the impact of Olympism every day.

This is an edited version of an article originally published in Olympic Review.

Olympism365 is the IOC’s strategy aimed at strengthening the role of sport as an important enabler for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS). The themes and priority areas for Olympism365 reflect the role that sport and Olympism in society can play for the SDGs by contributing to creating healthier and more active communities, more equitable, safer and inclusive communities, peacebuilding, and education and livelihoods.

Source IOC

Kwame Ayew, the younger brother of the legendary Abedi Ayew Pele, has opened up on venturing into the ministry of God after retiring from football.

The 49-year-old endured a graceful career that spanned over a decade and a half and was capped 25 times by Ghana.

He played for clubs across France, Italy, Portugal and Turkey, including Metz, Lecce, Sporting CP and Boavista.

Ayew retired in 2007 with over club 300 appearances to his name and immediately started preaching the word of Jesus Christ.

In a documentary discussing his faith, the former Ghana international said he used to play football but has now swapped sport for winning souls for Christ.

“I played football as a soccer player but now I strike for Jesus Christ. I was born in absolute poverty and it was difficult for my mom and dad to make ends meet,” Ayew said, as quoted by Ghanaweb.

“Daily life was a struggle. My vision was to become a medical doctor but two men walked to where I live with a proposal. They’ve seen me play with my school and they were gonna give me 10,000 cedis. At that time I had never even handled 100cedis so 10,000 sounded very enticing. So I agreed to do it.

“People started hearing of me all over Africa partly because of my elder brother, Abedi Ayew Pele. He had already made it so people wanted to see if I was as good as him so all the attention was on me.”

He added: “I wasn’t born to play football, I was born for football to help me to a certain level. Football has put me on a stage that attracts people like a magnet to hear the word of God which is life.

“My faith in Christ affected me as a footballer. One other way it affected me was to look at people. This led me to adopt six children. I live with four in this house and there are so many people I help.”

Ayew scored nine goals for the Black Stars and was part of the Ghana squad that won bronze at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Source Pulse Sports

Watch out as we prepare for Accra 2023 & Paris 2024 with the tenth anniversary of Ghana’s Fastest Human.

The 10th year anniversary launch comes off on Thursday April 13th 2023 at the Media Center of the Accra Sports Stadium.

The originator of the Ghana Fastest Event is Olympian, Mr. Reks Brobby/

The programme has seen the likes of Desmond Aryee, Benjamin Azamati, Ansah Sarfo, Grace Obuor, Emmanuel Yeboah Banabas Asante Aggerh, Mary Boakye, Edwin Gadayi and others.

Special guest of honour, Nana Asante Bediatuo, Secretary of the President of Ghana, Nana Akuffo Addo will once again launch the 2023 edition of the Ghana’s Fastest Human.

Save the date

By Sammy Heywood Okine

Thisaq Chorkor community league was a workout plan since 2016 by the current Assembly member, (Theophilus Isaac Nii Kpakpo Quaye) who is the current NDC youth organizer for Ablekuma south Constituency.

The plan was  conceived in 2016 by Hon. Theophilus Isaac Quaye but was launched in 2021 by Chairman Joseph Ogbamey Abbey who made sure the dream came to pass .

The league was established with sole aim to develop talents, shape them ,work on their maturity level and finally put them on a marketable scale.

President of the Chorkor Football Association Theophilus Isaac Nii Kpakpo Quaye also motivates the players to get the best out of them wherever they find themselves as players. But our priority is to get the next Stephen Appiah in Chorkor who will not only take Ghana to the world cup but win the cup for Ghana as the first African country to have won the cup .

The THISAQ CHORKOR COMMUNITY LEAGUE  is undoubtedly the best and most attractive community league not only in Ghana but in Africa. It made up of six communities namely Chemunaa *FC, Lanteman Lion FC, Extra O Professionals FC, Alomo* *Tecno Stars FC, Tea Garden FC and Galilee Stars FC.

The main sponsor of the league is *THISAQ COMPANY LTD* supported by the Cartel group of companies and  the office of the Chorkor Assembly.

We are also introducing  the CAMO FA cup to getting more playing time for the players week in week out to facilitate efficiency in the competition.

There are more matches to end the first round and the second round of the League.

The FA Executives and officials are -Theophilus Isaac Quaye (President), Joseph Ogbamey Abbey (Chairman), Dennis Tetteh (Vice chairman), Babhino Abrahams (Secretary), Amon Owene (PRO), Chemunaa weku nukpa (Advisor), Archibald Addo(Treasurer), Kuku Ratty(Organizer), Kamoko(Deputy organizer), Addo Abrahams,Solomon Ayison, Countryman Filament (PRO) and Joseph Epton (The lawyer of the association).

According to the a survey, the most discipline side is Chemunaa FC, however Galilee are leading the current league table of the contest which was kicked off in April and ends in September.

The second season of the league can boast of about 5,000 spectators per match. Never miss this and every Tuesday at the Stephen Appiah Astro Turf at the Mamprobi Girls School.

Source Sammy Heywood Okine

Minister of State at the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs Chrysoula Zacharopoulou on Saturday visited the Freedom Skatepark today as part of her official 3-day visit to Ghana.

The first fully functional and sustainable skatepark in Ghana, which was created in 2021 by Sandy Alibo, a French Caribbean creative is supported by the French Development Agency.

Ben Nunoo Mensah, President of the Ghana Olympic Committee, graced the event together with the Ambassador of France to Ghana, HE Jules-Armand Aniambosso and other officials from the French Embassy.

The Freedom Skatepark also hopes to be a training ground for Ghana's potential inclusion in the skateboard category at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Chef de mission for team Ghana for Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Isaac Aboagye Duah and former Black Stars captain and legend Abedi Ayew Pele were present.

GOC Communications

Assistant coach of the Black Meteors, Godwin Attram says the goal of the team is to qualify for the summer Olympic Games in Paris next year.

The Black Meteors secured qualification for the 2023 Africa U23 Cup of Nations after beating Algeria in a two-legged game.

The U23 Africa Cup of Nations will be staged in Morocco in June this year with the top three teams qualifying for Paris 2024.

"Now, it is the main tournament commencing in June and the target is to qualify to France for the Olympic Games in 2024," he told Citi Sports.

"Of the eight countries, I think that the tough opponents are Egypt (defending champions) and Morocco, the host nation.

"I am sure with the pairings, one will fall under category A and the other in B. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, I don’t think we are panicking to face these countries.

"Playing against Algeria has already giving us a fair idea of what is to come at the tournament proper. For me, as an experienced player I played in the Middle East and in North Africa, so I know how they operate.

"I believe if we the technical team work on a united front together with the players at the Afcon in Morocco, we will be able to sail through and qualify for the Olympics in Paris.”

Coach Ibrahim Tanko is also assisted by Ablade Kumah, Michael Osei and Goalkeepers Trainer.

Source ghanasoccernet