The reconstituted Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) Media /Communications Directorate have held their first meeting at the Conference Room of the Olymic House at Ridge in Accra.

Deputy Communications Director, Sammy Heywood Okine said “More Vim.. Ghana Sports need peace, love and unity. We need youth and experience.. We need to do things in a modern better way, using both traditional and digital media to produce results.

According to him, for the first time in nearly 30 years, Ghana won a Medal at the Olympic Games under President Ben Nunoo Mensah who has proved to be a cool bur collected leader who is interested in producing results.

“The Commonwealth Games, Birmingham 2022 also was an improvement over Australia 2018.

The Federations executives should unite and exhibit real love in a peaceful environment to attract sponsors. We should always have the winning mentality and be ready to serve at any time” he expressed.

Members of the newly constituted Communications team are Yaw Ampofo Ankrah (Director // Leader), Samuel Heywood Okine (Deputy Director), Benjamin Willie Graham (Deputy Director0, and Kobby Jones.

They will be supported by Ebenezer Amuzu and Dickson Boadi who are co opted members.

By Elizabeth Alhassan

The Communications team of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) has been reconstituted following recommendations by the hierarchy of GOC.

The current GOC Communications Directorate was first put in place in March 2021 following the re-election of Ben Nunoo Mensah for a second term as President of the Olympic Committee in Ghana.

Following the GOC elective congress held at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in Accra two years ago, former BBC and Supersport reporter Yaw Ampofo Ankrah was appointed as Director of Communications.

He will continue to serve in that capacity with the reconstituted four member team namely Benjamin William Graham the ace commentator who is also a member of the Ghana Football Association Marketing team, Mr Sammy Heywood Okine a veteran Sports journalist and media consultant, as well as Mr Kobby Jones Mfodwo a lecturer and media practitioner.

The directorate has also co-opted two additional members in the persons of Sports reporter/PR Consultant Mr Dickson Boadi and Sports journalist Mr Ebenezer Amuzu.

According to Ampofo Ankrah, recent past media wars and confrontations have been unnecessary distractions which destroys the good works and branding of any association seeking corporate or state support.

"You will not necessarily be seeing us all over the media making noise and responding to every potential attack, but I can assure you that you'll be seeing and hearing more about the positive strides of federations, athletes and officials. They are the reason we are here to serve and honour our job description"

The mandate of the newly constituted Communications team remains the same; to propagate and update on the good works of the Olympic movement in Ghana via the local, continental and  global media platforms.

Mr Ampofo Ankrah also thanked the Ghana sports media as a whole for their solid support and reiterated his confidence with the additions of Dickson Boadi and Ebenezer Amuzu to boost the media functions of the GOC especially as they were highly recommended by various sports federation heads.

GOC Communications

Black Stars skipper, Andre Ayew made his debut for Nottingham Forest on Sunday, assisting the club to a 1-0 victory over Leeds United.

The Ghana captain came on as a late substitute and assisted Nottingham in defending their first-half lead, securing a victory that moves them six points clear of the relegation zone.

Ayew made one clearance, won one aerial duel, and won one ground duel in the few minutes he was on the field. The fans applauded him after the game.

Ayew returns to the Premier League after signing for Nottingham Forest on a six-month deal on Tuesday.

The deal comes after Ayew terminated his contract with Al Sadd, which was due to expire in June 2023.

After his unveiling, Ayew took to his Instagram to express his excitement about returning to the Premier League. "Feels good to be back in the Premier League with Nottingham," he wrote.

The 33-year-old will hope to start Nottingham Forest's next game at Craven Cottage against Fulham.

ghanasoccernet

Senegal won the 7th Championship of African Nation (CHAN) after beating host nation Algeria in the finals on Saturday evening.

The local Teranga Lions played a great game and secured the historic win through a penalty shoot-out which saw them win 5-4 over host nation Algeria, after regulation time and 30 minutes of extra time at the Nelson Mandela Sports Stadium in Algiers.

Senegal last year won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time after years of elusion, and made it double by winning the second-tier competition on the continent made for locally based players.

Both sides converted their kicks successfully until Algeria player Kendouci hits the crossbar to hand the west Africans their first win.

The Lions from Teranga became the first West African side to win the competition since its inception.

Senegal are Beach Soccer 2022, AFCON 2022 champs, WAFU U15 2022 champs, WAFU U20 2022 champs and WAFU Women's Championship.

Algerian Houssem Eddine Mrezigue won the TotalEnergies Man of the Competition award.

The #TotalEnergiesCHAN2022 Umbro Golden Boot Award went to Aimen Mahious also of Algeria.

Pape Mamadou Sy of Senegal took home the Best Goalkeeper award.

Senegal added the #TotalEnergiesCHAN2022 Fair Play Award.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

MTN FA Cup- Round of 16 draw slated for next Tuesday

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has announced that the draw for the Round of 16 stage of the MTN FA Cup will be held on Tuesday, February 7 2023 at GFA Conference Room.

Nine Premier League clubs have advanced to the Round of 16 of the competition, including 9 time winners Kumasi Asante Kotoko.

Holders, Accra Hearts of Oak were ousted from the competition in the Round of 32 by Dreams FC last month.

From Sammy Heywood Okine

WFDF is pleased to announce that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today has granted full recognition to the World Flying Disc Federation at its 128th Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Established in 1985 and celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2015, the WFDF is composed of 62 national member associations on five continents. WFDF had received provisional recognition by the IOC in May 2013.

“The sport of Flying Disc has been granted full recognition by the International Olympic Committee today and WFDF is extremely honored and humbled by the decision and support shown by the IOC Session for our sport today. We are very thankful to the IOC membership, the Executive Board and its administration, in particular to the IOC Sport Department and staff, for their guidance and support during the period since WFDF was provisionally recognized by the IOC Executive Board in May 2013,” stated WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch.

“This is an incredible milestone in the 30 year history of WFDF and a further important step for our International Federation in the development of our sport worldwide.  There could be no bigger anniversary present to WFDF, which was launched in August 1985, and we are looking forward to continuing to work with the IOC as our partner in promoting Flying Disc sports around the globe.  Since 2013, we have successfully implemented most of the recommendations made by the IOC promulgating best practices for a sport IF,” continued Rauch.  “Since 2013, we have established Continental Associations on all continents, increased number of WFDF national member associations to 62 and the number of associations recognized by the National Olympic Committees to 11, focused on the development of organized activity in Africa, modified the WFDF governance structures to increase the influence of athletes in the decision-making process, and further supported the global growth of Flying Disc sport. Today’s decision will give a further boost to our efforts to increasing the presence of Flying Disc sports in all countries and on all continents.”

WFDF  represents 65 member associations in 62 countries and holds major World Championships in Ultimate Frisbee, Beach Ultimate, Guts, Disc Golf, Freestyle and Field events regularly in Open, Women`s and Mixed divisions of all age categories.

IOC

Ghana legend Asamaoh Gyan has praised the Championship of African Nations (CHAN), describing it as a special competition that shows the state of domestic leagues in Africa.

The former Black Stars captain also added that the competition set aside for only local players cannot be compared to any other competition.

"This is a huge opportunity for players playing on the continent. The CHAN is a unique competition. It cannot be compared to other competitions," Gyan told CAF in an interview.

"What I like about this tournament is that it shows the state of our local championships.

"This is our foundation. If we do not have good domestic championships, we will go nowhere. Thanks to everyone's work, our leagues are competitive.

"Competitive leagues which give competitive inter-club tournaments including the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederations Cup. There is no secret, everything starts from the local championships."

The final of the 2022 edition being held in ALgeria will be played in Saturday, with Senegal coming up agains the host nation.

footballghana

Nana Prah Agyensem IV, Paramount Chief of Owirenkyiman Traditional Area has urge the government to invest in sports to get quality athletes to represent Ghana in international competitions.

According to him, Ghana is blessed with talents but lacked the needed facilities to train and build upon their skills.

He made these in a speech at the 47th Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) awards where Sportsmen and Sportswomen were honoured for their contribution in their respective disciplines to raise high the flag of Ghana at the local and international front.

“I need to compare the benefits some countries are getting from sports that we are not getting because we are not investing enough. A lot of us never had the opportunity to demonstrate our talents,” he said.

He made reference to Brazil which produced lots of talent in football due to the excess football Stadia in the country to help the youth identify their talents.

Nana Prah Agyensem IV said it was immoral to deny young people the opportunity to develop their talents, who might end up with no other choice than to indulge in social vices.

He commended the efforts of the corporate that are committed to the development of sports in Ghana.

“Ghana hosted the African Cup of Nations in 2008 and we all saw the economic effects of that event, so I guess if all of us come together and understand and accept that the benefits of sports can only be obtained if we do the investments that are required,” he added.

newsghana

Adamus Mining Resources, a wholly owned Ghanaian mining company has hailed the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) for maintaining its hallmark of honouring sports excellence for the past 47 years through its prestigious award event.

The group, prior to the 47th SWAG awards, came onboard to partner the association due to its impact in developing sports both in Ghana and on the African continent.

Speaking at this year’s SWAG awards was Madam Angela List, the Chief Executive Officer of Adamus Mining Resources said ” We commend SWAG for its consistency over the years in holding this event. We commend SWAG for not just lifting the torch but keeping the flame burning and lighting the path for our heroes and heroines to be celebrated”.

According to her, it was a great honour to partner the longest and prestigious award scheme in Ghana as a way of honouring sportsmen and women who had projected the country at the world stage.

She pledged that this was not going to be their last support to SWAG but would continue to support community empowerment projects in areas of sports and education.

“At Adamus, we strongly support the statement that the greatest award is the appreciation of the people and there is no better platform to do that than one like SWAG provides”, the CEO added.

Madam Angela urged other stakeholders to sponsor the various sports disciplines in Ghana to encourage sports personalities to put in much effort in their various fields.

She also congratulated all nominees and awardees for working hard to gain the recognition they had been longing for.

NewsGhana

Executives of the Ghana Flying Disc Association -GFDA, have presented an undisclosed amount of money to the Ghana Cycling Federation towards organization of  the 2023Africa Championships.

The delegation comprised the President, Mr. Desmond Mantey, Vice President, Peter Asiedu, and Greater Accra Region chairman Abraham.

The new Federation responded to the call by the Cycling outfit’s call for support ahead of the African event next week.

Secretary General of the Ghana Cycling Federation Shaaban Mohammed who received the donation, was very grateful to the Flying Disc Association and thanked them for the gesture displayed.

Mr. Desmond Mantey President of Ghana Flying Disc Association believes both Federations can collaborate in future programmes.

The Ghana Flying Disc Association -GFDA is a novel Association recently immersed into the fold of the Least Finance sports arena and has already hit the sporting market with numerous programmes.

The Ablekuma Ollebu stretch will be the most busiest place from the 8-17th February,2023 as Ghana is seeking to accommodate over 20 African countries participating in the event.

Source UltimatesportsGhana