The Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) has confirmed that Jamaican-born International sports icon, Asafa Powell will be visiting Ghana from the 27th February to the 9th of March 2023.

A former World record holder in the 100 metres sprint,  Asafa who is married to Ghanaian model, Alyshia Powell will be accompanied by their two children.

A native of Spanish Town-Jamaica, Powell will be in the west African state for the first time at the invitation of the GOC.

He set the 100 metres world record twice, between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds.

The powerful splinter  has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competitions, with his personal best of 9.72 seconds ranking fourth on the all-time list of men's 100-metre athletes.

On 1st of September 2016, Powell was credited to have broken the ten-second barrier more times than any other athletes "97 times".

Powell also once held the world record for the 100-yard dash with a time of 9.09 seconds, set on 27 May 2010 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil, he added a gold medal to his collection in the 4 x 100 metres relay.

The President of the GOC Mr Ben Nunoo Mensah confirmed that once in Ghana, the 40 year old will be involved in a number of charity and social engagements to be covered by the local and international media.

"Asafa will pay a courtesy call on H.E the President of the Republic at the Jubilee House and also engage the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS), the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), the LOC of the African Games Accra 2023 as well as the Ghana Athletics Association (GAA) on how best Ghana sports can benefit from his huge image on the International sports arena."

The Director of Communications at the GOC; Yaw Ampofo Ankrah, said these activities have been carefully put together by the GOC.

"Asafa's visit is aimed at inspiring, motivating, and  promoting the development of athletics  and the interest of our youth in the sport."

Apart from strengthening Ghana-Jamaica relations,  Asafa visit will also see him hold various sports clinics and visit some Senior and Junior High schools as well as all sports facilities under construction for the next All African Games,slated to be hosted in Accra.

GOC COMMUNICATIONS

A Local Organising Committee (LOC) to see to the organization of the first Africa Under 18 Baseball5 Youth Championship has been inaugurated at the Media Centre of the Accra Sports Stadium on Wednesday.

Members of the LOC include Mr.Jeffrey Kumi Manzan Owusu, Mr. Emmanuel Frimpong, Mr. Usman Kweku Etuaful, Mr. Edmund Ackom, Mr. Alexander Tieku, Miss Farida A. Iddriss, Mr. Berthold PaaJoe Gadagbui, Mr. Felix Berbiye.

The competition starts from 14th - 23rd May, 2023 at the Univesity of Cape Coast.

President of the Ghana Baseball and Softball Federation, Mr. Ernest Danso said the Under 18 Baseball5 Youth Championships is a new programme which Ghana put in the bid and won to host.

He expressed that the winner will represent Africa at the World Cup.

He noted that it is an opportunity to open and spread the sport.

Mr. Albert Frimpong, President of the African Baseball and Softball Confederation said Ghana presented a proposal that was rich and earned the right to host the event.

Professor Peter Twumasi who sworn in the LOC members advised them to work hard to organize a successful event for the world to see that Ghanaians can put up good events.

He expressed that sports can create jobs and make people rich.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

The 5th edition of the Willie Williams Athletics Championship comes off on 18th March 2023, at the Athletics Oval of the University of Ghana, Legon.

The annual event is organized to celebrate the late Paa Willie who was an athlete and later became a coach, he is known to have unearth top athletes like Aziz Zakari, Philomena Mensah, Ruki Abudulai, Mercy Addy and others.

The championship is aimed at selecting and training future stars for Ghana. Athletes, and take inspiration from 2020 Olympian, Benjamin Azamati the current 100m champion of Ghana, Latifah Ali and Joe Paul Amoah, the SWAG Athlete of the year.

According to Mr. James Thompson, the main organiser, the Championship is open to the general public and sanctioned by the Ghana Athletics Association.

Supporting oganisers of the Championship include Pierre Jean Sacramento (Swallow), Eric Ofori Owusu of Ghana Immigration Service and James Thompson Anlaamige(Bakayano) who promised fireworks on the, day of the competition.

He has appealed to the Ghana Government and companies to put in money to make the program a long lasting one and to help bring up more stars for Ghana.

The events to be participated include,100m to 5000m for both men and women,  High Jump and Long Jump also for men and women.

The competition would start at exactly 8:00am and close at 5pm.

Felix Timean(Sakora) is Chairman of the competition while Mr. Wisdom Loh (Father of Ghana's Athletics) is the Patron

Mr. James Thompson Anlaamige (Bakayano).hinted that this year's edition would be interesting and appealed to Athletics fans to come and give the young sportsmen and women morale.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

Turkish Club Hatayspor has paid a heartfelt tribute to their player Christian Atsu, who has passed on, at age 31.

The Ghanaian international body was found under the rubble at his apartment on Saturday morning, after the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey on February 6, 2023.

The former Chelsea player could not be found after the incident.

But Hatayspor confirmed the passing of their player in a tweet on Saturday morning, expressing their heartfelt condolences to friends and family.

“Sorry for your loss. The body of our football player Christian Atsu, who lost his life under the collapse, is on his way to be sent to his hometown in Ghana. We will not forget you, Atsu.

“Peace be upon you, beautiful person. There are no words to describe our sadness. Rest in peace,” Hatayspor said in a social media post.

There has been an outpouring of messages of condolence from social media users who are remembering the exploits of the Ghana international during his playing days.

Atsu represented Ghana at the African Cup of Nations in 2015, 2017, and 2019, and was named the tournament’s best player in 2015.

The former Newcastle winger also played for Ghana at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

GNA

Ghana won a total of six medals at the just ending 2023 Para-cycling Championship in Accra.

In all, Ghana won two gold medals, one silver and three bronze medals, at the end of the competition.

The 19th Confederation of African Cycling Championship was held under the auspices of Union Cycliste International, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ghana Cycling Federation, the National Sports Authority, and the Ghana Olympic Committee as part of qualification mark for the upcoming All African Games and 2024 Olympic Games in Paris Francis.

In the Men’s Class B division, a distance of 36 km over four laps, Ghana’s Dery Peter came first in a time of 57 minutes, two seconds, followed by Nigerian Tijani Oyindamola Abdullh in a time of one hour, three minutes, 45 seconds and Maltiti Alhassan Abdul Rahaman winning bronze in a time of one hour, five minutes and 23 seconds.

However, in the Women’s class, a distance of 36 km over four laps Ayiglo Favour won the gold medal, followed by Owusu Susana, with Adakurugu Alice winning bronze.

In the category C1 TO C5 in a distance of 36 km over four laps Ghana’s Atta Yaw Richard won bronze medal in a time of one hour, four minutes, 33 seconds, whilst Algerian Djaber Aymen placed second in a time of one hour, one minute, 33 second and Merabt Zinedine of Algeria, came first in a finish time of 57 minutes, two seconds.

In the H3 category in a distance of 36 km over four laps Senegal’s Sarr Macoumba Toure took the gold medal followed by another Senegalese Gaye Mouhamed and Sanka Emou Edmoud also winning the bronze medal.

By Rihanna Adam

As part of activities to mark the world Tug of War day in Ghana, the Ghana Tug of War Association (GHATOWA) on Sunday organised a special event for schools in the Eastern Region.

The schools were classified in boys, girls and heavyweight with fantastic prizes at stake for the winners.

The girls schools represented were Suhum Islamic Girls, Aburi Girls, Mamfe Methodist Girls, Mampong Presby SHS, Aburi Presby SHS, Diaspora Girls, Adonten SHS,  Larteh and Presby SHS.

After the hot contest, Mamfe Methodist Girls won the girls competition, second place went to Suhum Islamic Girls.

The Boys category was competed among Adonten SHS, Aburi Presby SHS, Larteh Presby SHS, Koforidua SECTEH, Mampong Presby SHS

Koforidua SECTEH proved their strength to emerge winners, while Mampong Presby SHS placed second.

There was a Heavy weight category dubbed the PWCE inter halls Championship.

The halls that took part were Mackillican, Kampong, Juzi Widman. Kwapong Hall won after pulling Mackillican who went home with the second prize.

Mr. Emmanuel Olla Williams, President of the Ghana Tug of War Association commended the participants and officials, he said the competition will move to other regions for everyone to have a feel of Tug of War.

He expressed that very soon, Tug of War will become the most attractive and best sporting activity for students in Ghana.

The special Tug of War contest was sponsored by Good Day Energy Drink, Ocean Spray (Cramberry Juice), Sunshine Natural Filtered Water, Indomie Instant Noodles and Aburi Botanical Gardens.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

Ghana’s Winter Olympian, Akwasi Frimpong left Innsbruck, Austria with another solid performance.

The Skeleton event  performer made top 3 start times and two top 15 finishes in the IBSF ICC (Inter Continental Cup) races.

A push PB by 2 tenths and downtime PB by 1.07 seconds.

He is now ranked 40th in the world on the IBSF men’s skeleton overall ranking.

Last season he was 64th in the world. He has appealed to Ghanaian companies for support and thankes all who have been praying and having positive thought of him.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

The Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), representing the Olympic movement in Ghana is deeply saddened by the passing of Ghanaian International footballer Christian Atsu.

A son, and a brother to his family, Christian Atsu was also a devoted husband to his wife and a loving father to his children. Our deepest condolences to all those he has sadly left behind.

Right up to the hour of his tragic demise, the former FC Porto and Newcastle United winger, was earning a living by plying his trade in Turkey with Super League outfit Hatayspor.

Beyond football and sports, the nation has  lost a devoted son who was a true patriot over and above his calling as a professional sportsman.

The GOC is ready to support the foundation of the late fallen hero and protect his legacy as a humanitarian and charity Ambassador.

It is the fervent hope of the Olympic movement in Ghana, that a state  funeral would be accorded Christian Atsu as a national hero.

Also comforting is the knowledge that the many lives Christian touched will always remember his beautiful deeds on and off the pitch.

Christian, we take consolation in the prayer that the Lord is our shepherd and you have found a lasting resting place in his kingdom.

Ben Nunoo Mensah

President GOC

19/02/2023

The impasse between the African Union (AU), Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) and Association of African Sports Confederations (AASC) was amicably resolved on Sunday 19th February,  2023, at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa.

The resolution of the impasse was facilitated by Ghana's President H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo and H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of AU, who sat through the entire resolution process.

At the end of it all, the stakeholders smoked a peace pipe and signed a Negotiated Agreement. 

The Honourable Minister for Youth and Sports,  Mr Mustapha Ussif,  signed for Ghana,  H.E. Amb. Minata Semate Cessouma AUC Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development signed for AU, Mr Mustapha Berraf,  President of ANOCA signed for ANOCA while Major General Nasser,  President of AASC signed for AASC.     

The impasse between these major stakeholders has for the past one and half years impacted adversely on Ghana's efforts to host and organize the 13th African Games, Accra 2023.

A new date for hosting the Games will be announced soon since the impasse affected the timelines for the African Games.

By Izay man

CAF is saddened by the tragic passing of Ghana international, Christian Atsu following the earthquake in Turkey.

Atsu, who represented his country 65 times, played for a number of clubs including Everton, Chelsea, Newcastle in England and Porto. At the time of his tragic death, he was plying his trade in Turkey for Hatayspor.

CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe and African Football Family conveys heartfelt condolences to his family and Ghanaian Football Family.

May Christian Atsu’s soul rest in peace!

CAF | Communication Department

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.