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‘New’ Ghana FA never appointed C.K Akonnor as Black Stars assistant coach, says Sarfo

The football association chief has denied reports that they appointed the new Black Stars assistant coach

Ghana Football Association executive Council member Nana Oduro Sarfo has debunked reports suggesting that they appointed C.K Akonnor as the new assistant coach of the Black Stars after assuming office on Monday.

According to Sarfo, the plan to replace Ibrahim Tanko with Akonnor was hatched by the Normalisation Committee before they left office therefore they cannot take credits or backlashes of it.

“It is never true that the new Ghana FA under the leadership  of Kurt Okraku appointed CK Akonnor as the assistant coach of the Black Stars,” Sarfo told Asempa FM.

“The plan to appoint him to assist Kwesi Appiah ahead of the Afcon qualifiers was already there before we came to office so we basically have no hand in it,” he added.

Akonnor is expected to help Kwesi Appiah in preparing a formidable side that will be able to defeat South Africa and Sao Tome and Principe in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers holding next month.

Micky Charles criticizes GFA president Kurt Okraku on solo visit to Akufo-Addo

 

The outspoken football administrator has hit out at new GFA boss for showing disrespect to the executive Council following his first visit to the Flagstaff house

Techiman City City bankroller Micky Charles has insisted that it was wrong for new Ghana FA president Kurt Okraku to visit the president of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo with his friends instead of the executive Council.

On Wednesday, Okraku paid a courtesy call on Akufo-Addo at the Flagstaff to formerly introduce himself to him after he was elected by football delegates last week.

However, he was accompanied by his wife Rebecca Okraku, Ameenu Shardow, Michael Bogdan Osekre and Youth and  sports minister Isaac Asiamah without any member of the exco present.

“There is one thing I saw when the GFA president visited the Jubilee House which I believe it was wrong. I didn’t see any of the executive council members in the pictures circulating, and its not the best” Micky Charles told Asempa FM.

“Its too early for Kurt Okraku to be embarking on such official visits without the council members he is going g to work with at the FA. I don’t know why he went there without them but I think its something that is not right and shouldn’t be repeated especially at this early stages of his tenure in office,” he added.

AshesGyamera’s sources have however revealed that Okraku is hoping to make amends by planning another visit to the Flagstaff house where he will go with all the exco members.

Okraku, together with new executive Council will be in office until 2023 before a new election will be held.

GFA president Kurt Okraku pays courtesy call on Ghana president Akufo-Addo

The newly sworn in football chief went to the seat of government to visit and talk about the progress of the sport with the first gentleman of the land

Ghana FA president Kurt Okraku paid a courtesy call to Ghana president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday.

The newly elected football boss was in the company of Youth and Sports minister Isaac Asiamah, Vision FC boss Michael Osekre and Dreams FC management member Ameenu Shardow.

Others also present included special aide to the Youth and Sports minister, Kofi Asare Brako ‘Abatay’, who formerly worked with Despite and Multimedia Group of Companies.

According to AshesGyamera.com’s sources, Akufo-Addo pledged his support for the new GFA administration led by Okraku and also advised him on several issues including how to deal with corruption since that mainly brought to the abrupt end of the previous administration under embattled Kwesi Nyantakyi.

Okraku, who defeated George Afriyie in the run to become the new face of the football Association, is expected to reign between now and 2023 before new elections will be held.

Shafui Muminu & six new faces named in Ghana’s 23-man squad to face South Africa & Sao Tome

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah has named a 23-man squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against South Africa and Sao Tome and Principe next month.

Conspicuously missing from the squad are all-time striker Asamoah Gyan, Inter Milan defender Kwadwo Asamoah and former Torino midfielder Afriyie Acquah.

Newcastle United winger Christian Atsu has also been dropped due to injury concerns but in-form Crystal Palace striker Jordan Ayew will lead the attack.

Also, there are seven new faces in the squad including Real Valladolid’s defender Salisu Mohammed, former Hearts of Oak star Torric Jebril who now plies his trade with T.P Mazembe as well as Ashanti Gold skipper Shafiu Muminu following his exploits at the 2019 Wafu Cup of Nations in Senegal.

The Black Stars will host Bafana Bafana of South Africa at home on Thursday 14th November, 2019 at the Cape Coast Stadium, before travelling to São Tomé and Príncipe to face them on Monday 18th November.

 

GOALKEEPERS: Richard Ofori (Maritzburg FC, South Africa), Felix Annan (Asante Kotoko, Ghana), Razak Abalora (Azam FC, Tanzania)

DEFENDERS: Andy Yiadom (Reading, England), Harrison Afful (Columbus Crew, USA), Lumor Agbenyenu (Real Mallorca, Spain), Joseph Aidoo (Celta Vigo, Spain), Kassim Nuhu (Fortuna Dusseldorf, Germany), Nicholas Opoku (Udinese, Italy), Mohammed Salisu (Real Valladolid, Spain)

MIDFIELDERS: Samuel Owusu (Al Fahya, Saudi Arabia), Thomas Partey (Atletico Madrid, Spain), Alfred Duncan (Sassuolo, Italy), Mubarak Wakaso (Deportivo Alaves, Spain), Iddrisu Baba (Real Mallorca, Spain), Christopher Antwi-Adjei (SC Paderborn, Germany)

FORWARD: Andre Ayew (Swansea, England), Mohammed Kudus (FC Nordsjaelland, Denmark), Emmanuel Boateng (Dalian Yifang, China), Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace, England), Torric Jibril (TP Mazembe, DR Congo), Shafiu Mumuni (Ashantigold)

Valladolid’s Salisu Mohammed earns debut Ghana call up ahead of Afcon qualifers

The young defender is among a host of new faces that will storm the Black Stars camp next week for the opening game of the qualifiers

Real Valladolid defender Salisu Mohammed is the latest player to be handed a maiden call-up by Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah ahead of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against South Africa and Sao Tome and Principe.

The 20-year-old has been on fire in La Liga this season and even netted his debut goal last weekend when his side defeated Eibar 2-0 at home.

Also, he came on for Nacho Martinez by the 32nd minute and put up a spirited performance despite Valladolid suffering a 5-1 thrashing in the hands of Barcelona on Tuesday night and has seen his outputs not going unnoticed.

With Kwesi Appiah trying to build a formidable team that would be able to qualify and win the next Afcon since Ghana last lifted a major trophy in 1982, the gaffer is looking at blending both new and old players to form a formidable side to help his course.

According to AshesGyamera.com’s sources, former captain Asamoah Gyan and deputy captain Kwadwo Asamoah will be missing from the squad yet to be announced.

Also, Newcastle United midfielder Christian Atsu will be out of the roster after he officially notified the technical team of a troublesome injury he sustained few weeks ago and has pleaded for enough time to recover fully.

AshesGyamera.com can also state that the game against Bafana Bafana on November 14 will be played in Cape Coast instead of favourite Baba Yara Sports Stadium or Accra Sports Stadium.

Kotoko’s George Amoako ready to become new Ghana FA vice president

 

The Porcupine Warriors chief insists he deserves to be voted the new vice president of the football association until 2023

Asante Kotoko chief executive officer George Amoako has availed himself for the vacant Ghana FA vice president role.

The 56-year-old was voted as one of the newly elected executive Council members of the football association and has revealed that he wants to deputise new president Kurt Okraku despite interest from Frederick Acheampong, Randy Abbey and Tony Aubyn.

“It is true that I want to become the new vice president. I have high interest in that position and I’m going to contest for it” Amoako told Atinka FM.

‘There is nothing like assurance when it comes to football elections, we are all friends, so it will be very hard for a delegate to tell you in the face that, I’m not going to vote for you. Only few will be truthful to their words because almost everybody will assure you of his or her vote but that’s where ‘fear delegates’ mantra comes in,” he added.

Amoako, however, added that he wasn’t surprised to have witnessed favourite George Afriyie losing the presidential elections to Kurt Okraku in two rounds.

“I was not surprised George Afriyie lost the elections. Most people tipped him to win but you see the ‘fear ‘delegates’ comes into play and that’s what exactly happened.

Late campaign led to Fred Pappoe’s six votes during Ghana FA elections -Saanie

The former football association’s chief believes late campaign amounted to the fewer votes amassed by Fred Pappoe during the elections

Former Ghana Football Association spokesperson Ibrahim Saanie Daara says it wasn’t surprising when Fred Pappoe managed to have only six votes in the just ended FA presidential elections.

According to Saanie, while other contestants started serious campaigns since 2017, Pappoe who was regarded as the most experienced candidate to replace Kwesi Nyantakyi left it late and that affected his dreams.

“Fred Pappoe had a late campaign during the elections and it led to what happened, ” Saanie told Asempa FM.

“The likes of Kurt Okraku and others started campaigning over two years ago and had spoken to all the delegates before he joined,” he added.

Pappoe has been touted as one of the individuals who can make Kurt’s administration successful since he is ready to offer various kinds of advise between now and 2023.

Kwabena Owusu, Zibo, Polley to join Black Meteors camp

The Black Meteors are fine tuning for the Africa Cup of Nations holding in Egypt

Ghana U23 coach Ibrahim Tamlo has handed eleven foreign players a chance to join  the Black Meteors in camp as they prepare for the 2019 Africa U23 Nations which will he staged in Egypt.

After struggling to eliminate Morocco in the qualifiers, the Black Meteors are hoping to pick one of the slots allocated for Africa to participate in the 2020 Olympics Games in Tokyo, Japan.

Robin Polly, the son of former Black Stars striker Prince Polly who plies his trade with Eredivise side ADO den Haag has been handed his maiden call up together with Kwabena Owusu who featured for the Black Stars during the 2019 Afcon.

Others include Evans Mensah, Yaw Yeboah, Kingsley Fobi, Samuel Obeng, Simon Zibo, Issah Abass and Emmanuel Lomotey.

Invited players:

Simon Zibo – Portugal
Edward Sarpong – Portugal
Yaw Yeboah – Spain
Kwabena Owusu – Spain
Emmanuel Lomotey – Spain
Kingsley Fobi – Spain
Samuel Obeng – Spain
Robin Polly – Holland
Issah Abass – Holland
Evans Mensah – Finland
Joseph Paintsil – Belgium

About: Meet Evans Gyamera-Antwi

Evans Gyamera-Antwi is a multi-talented journalist from Ghana and currently based in Kumasi, the capital of Ashanti region and Asante empire. Ashes, as he’s affectionately called by friends has specialization in sports coverage and has graced many high-profile events.

After quitting his dream of becoming a Fifa referee, Evans began his career as a writer in 2012 on the low, and has since worked for many international online outlets, including Goal, Yahoo Sports, MSN, etc.

Currently, he is a freelancer, writing on demands for ModernGhana, Ghanaweb and other websites as well as managing his personal website AshesGyamera.com. He also appears on Royal TV and Otec FM as a pundit to discuss sporting related stories.

Evans was part of a group of journalists who covered the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations staged in Egypt including the final between Algeria and Senegal where the former emerged champions.

He was also selected as one of the few journalists to cover 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Born in Mfuom, Dunkwa-on-Offin in the Central Region, Evans is an alumnus of Kyeremfem D/A Primary, Tanoso Model Junior High and Sunyani Senior High School. He obtained Diploma in Basic Education at St. Joseph’s College of Education (Bechem) before attending Valley View University where he obtained a degree in English Language.

Married to his long-time girlfriend who is also a teacher by profession Bernice Ofori Appiah, they have been blessed with three children- a son (Benjamin Nuamah Gyamera-Antwi) and two daughters (Olivia Kwakwaa Gyamera-Antwi and Josephine Aboagye Gyamera-Antwi).

Evans is a young man who doesn’t give up in life, especially because of where he is coming from and always believe ‘perseverance, truth and courage make a man complete.’

He is currently teaching at Barekese Senior High School and as a Christian, he was baptized in the Methodist church and has since remained a member of the church.

ASHES: As Said, He’s Expecting Success.

Salisu on target in Valladolid’s win in La Liga

The youngster hit the back of  the net as the White and Violets marched on to secure three points in La Liga on Saturday

Ghanaian defender Salisu Mohammed was on target when Real Valladolid defeated Eibar 2-0 in La Liga on Saturday.

The 20-year-old grabbed his first goal of the season by the 37th minute after connecting a pass from Nacho Martinez to add to Sergi Guardiola’s opener in the first ten minutes of the game.

However, Salisu, who was making his tenth league appearance of the season, was booked on the 77th minute following a rush challenge on his opponent on edge of Valladolid’s penalty area.

Salisu is regarded as one of the players who can help Kwesi Appiah to end Ghana’s 38-year run without a major trophy at the senior level when the Black Stars head to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.