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Nettey back but Agyapong still away as Kotoko name matchday squad against Legon Cities

The Porcupine Warriors would hope to return to winning ways on Sunday after that defeat to relegation threatened RTU

Asante Kotoko coach Prosper Ogum Narteh has named his matchday squad to face Legon Cities on matchday 25 of Ghana Premier League at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium on Sunday.

Defender Christopher Nettey who missed the game against Real Tamale United last weekend through suspension has returned and would likely start on Sunday.

George Mfegue and his countryman Etouga Mbella are expected to lead the attack for Kotoko.

A win for Kotoko would extend their lead at the summit of the table to at least eleven points since Bechem United who sit second place will play on Monday.

Kotoko squad vs Legon Cities

Goalkeepers:

Danlad Ibrahim, Kwame Baah

Defenders:

Christopher Nettey, Maxwell Agyemang, Imoro Ibrahim, Patrick Asmah, Charles Owusu, Andrews Appau, Mubarik Yusif, Samuel Appiah

Midfielders:
Stephen Amankona, Clinton Opoku, Gama Dos Santos, Richard Boadu, Mudasiru Salifu, Emmanuel Keyekeh, Sheriff Mohammed, Fabio

Strikers:

Georges Mfegue, Franck Etouga, Dickson Afoakwa, Samuel Boateng, Evans Adomako.

Ghanaian clubs are engaging in betting to survive – Hearts of Oak board member Akambi reveals

The Phobians chief has admitted that betting syndicates are destroying the game in the country but reveals that owners of clubs are becoming handicap due to lack of financial support

Hearts of Oak board member Alhaji Akambi has admitted that betting syndicates have been able to gatecrash into Ghana Premier League and constantly influence results.

According to Akambi, a lot of club owners are financially not sound and struggle to pay their players after several failed attempts to get sponsorship deals for the league.

In recent times, issues of match fixing have dominated the league and that has deterred investors away.

“Betting in our game is a dicey situation. We have been pushing for a sponsor for the Ghana Premier League but nothing has been done so how can the clubs survive? Hearts of Oak may not have issues paying players salaries but others clubs may not have the financial strength,” Alhaji Akambi said in an interview on Starr FM’s Friday Night Football.

“Majority of Ghanaian clubs engaging in betting are doing it to survive because there is no money in the Ghana Premier league but if you are club and you are not financially sound go into partnership,” he added.

Breaking News: Didier Drogba loses as new FA president of Ivory Coast is elected

Former Chelsea Football Club striker Didier Drogba has failed in his bid to be elected as the new Football Association president of Ivory Coast.

Drogba wanted to join Samuel Eto’o as the two former Chelsea players who later became leaders of their country’s football organisation.

However, he lost the race to Idriss Diallo who has been elected president of the Côte d’Ivoire Football Federation, following a second round of votes.

Diallo got 59 votes in the first round while Diabetes and Drogba had 50 and 21 votes respectively.

Therefore, there was a second round election between Diallo and Diabetes which Diallo won.

Watch Yaw Annor’s Ronaldo-like goal against Great Olympics which everyone is talking about

Ashanti Gold pipped Great Olympics 1-0 on matchday 26 of Ghana Premier League at the Accra Sports Stadium to breath life back into their Top Four aspirations.

Olympics had the better of starts as they were offered several chances but could not make it count.

Yussif was denied by the goal post before Ashanti Gold was also denied in similar situation as Yaw Annor’s long drive couldn’t go in.However, after the break, Annor was lucky the second time asking after he connected a pass from Elijah Addai and sent in a powerful drive which went past the goalkeeper on the 69th minute.Annor was played through four minutes later but he couldn’t guide his last ditch effort on target.Ashanti Gold have now moved four places up to ninth position with 35 points, five points below the top four spot while Olympics remain on fifth position with 39 points.

Watch the goal from Yaw Annor against Great Olympics

Great Olympics 0-1 Ashanti Gold: Annor’s incredible goal ends Olympics’ unbeaten home record & spoils anniversary celebrations

The Miners made amends as they shocked the Wonder Club and somehow dashed their hopes of making a Top Four finish

Ashanti Gold pipped Great Olympics 1-0 on matchday 26 of Ghana Premier League at the Accra Sports Stadium to breath life back into their Top Four aspirations.

Ahead of the game, Olympics had a short ceremony to mark their 68th anniversary as a club and were hoping to have a good results to complete the occasion but things move from worse to worst.

Olympics had the better of starts as they were offered several chances but could not make it count.

Ampem Dacosta cleared the danger for Ashanti Gold by the 18th minute after Olympics came close to opening the lead.

Yussif was denied by the goal post before Ashanti Gold was also denied in similar situation as Yaw Annor’s long drive couldn’t go in.

However, after the break, Annor was lucky the second time asking after he connected a pass from Elijah Addai and sent in a powerful drive which went past the goalkeeper on the 69th minute.

Annor was played through four minutes later but he couldn’t guide his last ditch effort on target.

Ashanti Gold have now moved four places up to ninth position with 35 points, five points below the top four spot while Olympics remain on fifth position with 39 points.

Ashanti Gold will host Berekum Chelsea next weekend at the Len Clay Sports Stadium while Olympics travel to Techiman to square it off with Eleven Wonders at the Ohene Ameyaw Park.

“I see strange things & my penis hasn’t erected after awarding penalty against Hearts,” Kennedy Padi reveals

The beleaguered referee has revealed that he has not had an erection since he handled the Super Clash a fortnight ago

Underfire referee Kennedy Padi has revealed that he is facing erectile dysfunction since he handled the Super Clash involving Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak in Ghana Premier League a fortnight ago.

Padi was found guilty of manipulating the scoreline in the game between Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium a fortnight ago as a penalty he awarded Kotoko helped them to win the day.

Although, he argued during a sitting by the Match Review Panel that Kotoko midfielder Fabio Gama was push and brought down in the box, video replays showed that the Brazilian rather dived, hence making the call a wrong decision.

“Things have not been easy for me in the past days. I have not had an erection from the day I awarded the penalty against Hearts Of Oak,” Padi told Wenchi-based Ewiase FM in an interview.

“Sometimes, I get strange dreams, nightmares and horrific day dreams even when I’m with other people in the house.

FULL DECISION BY GHANA FA ON PADI

The referee insisted that the Hearts player stepped on the foot of the Kotoko player which he later agreed that there was no stepping of foot after watching the video. He then defended that there was a push and pull at a point, which the video clearly showed that it was not the case.

OBSERVATIONS, FINDINGS AND GROUNDS OF THE DECISION

Per the video watched in relation to the 14th minutes incident, player number 24 of Hearts of Oak challenged player number 10 of Asante Kotoko fairly. There was no foul committed which warranted any penalty. The hand on the back of the attacker had no impact on the attacker. More so the attacker should not have failing backwards if the fall was because of the hand of the defender, obviously it was not a push so falling backward suggest a premeditated attempt to fake a foul.

We also considered some factors:

If there was pushing as claimed by the referee, we did not see any movement of the arm from the back to forward. Meaning no HAND MOVEMENT
Neither pulling movement from front to back.
The attacker was already throwing himself down in a completely strange way.

If there was pulling or pushing as claimed by the referee, the attacker should have fallen on the face and not with his back as seen in the video. (FOOTBALL UNDERSTANDING)
The video also showed quite a number of inconsistencies in his decisions during his officiating of the match especially after the penalty incident. The referee lost concentration.

DECISION(S)

The Panel concluded that, per the video watched, and the referee’s defense is in contrast.

Per the video watched the Panel holds the view that the referee erred in awarding the penalty. This error changed the outcome of the match.

Therefore, the Referee Joseph Kenny Padi is suspended for the rest of the season. This includes all GFA organized matches.

Meanwhile, former referee Eric Owusu Kalla has revealed that Padi has opted to retire prematurely from refereeing after serving his ban.

“Kennedy Padi has decided to retire from officiating football games going forward,” Kalla told Kessben TV.

“I’m sad that Padi is using this case to retire. Oh yes, he is not happy with the situation. He told me one-on-one that he is not going to officiate any game again even after his suspension is over.

“He feels that he was not treated well. Personally, I feel that the penalty he awarded to Kotoko player Fabio Gama was legitimate. We can liken it to that of Ghana vs South Africa where Daniel Amartey was impeded and got penalty for Ghana,” he added.

“Match fixing starts from the leaders,” former Premier League referee reveals how he manipulated Hearts of Oak & Dreams FC results

The former Knight of the whistle has shed light on how top members of the football association and referees’appointment committee manipulate results even before kick off

Former Ghana Premier League referee Stephen Yaw Nsor has insisted that there is leadership failure since match fixing scandals involves top officials at the Football Association and within the referees’ top hierarchy.

According to Nsor, who was once ranked the best center referee from Brong Ahafo region, who was at a point caught in a dilemma when two of his bosses advised him to manipulate the results of a game for their clubs.

After failing one of them, Nsor claims that he was unofficially suspended and did not officiate games for quite a long time.

“I officiated a game involving Dreams FC and Istanbul match at Akyem Techiman and two referees’ appointment committee members were trying to show me which side should win the game,” Nsor told Nimde3 FM.

“One of them said Dreams FC should be the winners while the other insisted to me that Istanbul must win the game at all cost. So I was left in the middle and in a state of dilemma. They are all our leaders in terms of officiating. I am telling you the truth. They were part of the referees leaderships but had their interest.

“They were with the teams. Some teams can pay for it but a referee who has an interest will demand. It is still going on. At a time, Tamale City came to Berekum Arsenal but Arsenal’s protested against a certain referee that he’s been officiating only the games of Tamale City before they changed him. It is still going on. I am telling you.”

“In that game, I was talking about, we went all out and fairly officiated it but Dreams FC lost and after that, I was put on ‘ice’ by the one who was expecting us to let Dreams win. He is a family member of Kurt Okraku but at that time Kurt wasn’t the FA boss. He later put me on ‘ice’ meaning I wasn’t officially suspended but in his own decision he suspended me. They were not giving me matches.

“I don’t know his position but maybe when the appointment committee meets he has an interest and will try to make some decisions. I wasn’t charged but…the video is there, we can go for it and show me where I made a mistake but all because I didn’t help Dreams FC to win, I was put on ‘ice’.”

Nsor further talked about how some Ghana Football Association top members influenced him to help Hearts of Oak to win FA Cup game since they wanted the Phobians to face Asante Kotoko in the final and that forced him to retire prematurely.

“I went for Hearts and Elmina Sharks game some years back. It was an FA Cup game around somewhere in 2017. Before the game, some Gurus at the FA influenced the match (some are still there). They forced us to let Hearts of Oak win so that they can meet Kotoko. I am telling you. It was played in Accra. The park was good, the weather too was very condusive for football. Elmina Sharks thought they were going to beat Hearts of Oak, checking the jama and their moral level ahead of the game.

“We thought we were going to officiate the game fairly but the thing changed. We handled it according to what they said. You know that the game is not fair. Football is not fair in Ghana.

“I stopped officiating because of that manipulations from top officials in football. Officiating is not like playing football. When you are a good player, some big clubs can come for you but in officiating it is not like who is performing but whom you know. Your links and your connections will send you far,” he concluded.

Listen to what Stephen Yaw Nsor said about match fixing in Ghana

Nsor is currently staying with his family in Sunyani.

Highlights: Hearts of Oak thump Accra Lions 3-0 in Accra derby; check Barnieh’s brace & Muntari’s assist

The youngster scored twice as Phobians close the gap between them and their rivals in the title chase

Hearts of Oak returned to winning ways as they defeated ten-man Accra Lions 3-0 in the Accra derby of Ghana Premier League at the Accra Sports Stadium on Friday thanks to a brace from Daniel Afriyie Barnieh and another goal from Agyenim Boateng.

After sharing the spoils 1-1 with Elmina Sharks last weekend, Samuel Boadu was under immense pressure to snap a win to at least keep the chase on rivals Kotoko who are currently leading the chart.

Watch all the goals and assists

Barnieh opened the scoring by the 11th minute after tearing away from his marker to slot in from close range following a rebound from Ibrahim Salifu’s shot.

Twenty five minutes later, Lions were reduced to ten men following a red card to Abubakar Rashid for a poor challenge.

After the break, Agyenim Boateng doubled the lead by the 55th minute after he went past his marker.

Barnieh sealed the victory on the stroke of full time with a header after he met a tailor-measured cross from substitute Sulley Muntari.

Hearts, who now have 40 points, will host Dreams FC next weekend before they travel to Nana Fosu Gyeabour Park in Bechem to square it off with Bechem United.

Accra Lions 0-3 Hearts of Oak: Phobians close gap between them and Kotoko to twelve

The Phobians may have left it late but there is still a chance for them to fight for the diadem as they close the gap

Hearts of Oak defeated ten-man Accra Lions 3-0 in the Accra derby of Ghana Premier League at the Accra Sports Stadium on Friday.

After sharing the spoils 1-1 with Elmina Sharks last weekend, Samuel Boadu was under immense pressure to snap a win to at least keep the chase on rivals Kotoko who are currently leading the chart.

A goal in each side of the half from Afriyie Barnieh was sandwiched by Agyenim Boateng’s sublime finish as Hearts moved three places up into the Top Four.

Samuel Inkoom started the game once again after scoring his debut goal last weekend and Sully Muntari returned from his short business trip to Zambia. However, he was left on the bench as Boadu didn’t make any significant changes in his setup.

Barnieh opened the scoring by the 11th minute after tearing away from his marker to slot in from close range following a rebound from Ibrahim Salifu’s shot.

Twenty five minutes later, Lions were reduced to ten men following a red card to Abubakar Rashid for a poor challenge.

After the break, Agyenim Boateng doubled the lead by the 55th minute after he went past his marker.

Barnieh sealed the victory on the stroke of full time with a header after he met a tailor-measured cross from substitute Sulley Muntari.

Hearts, who now have 40 points, will host Dreams FC next weekend before they travel to Nana Fosu Gyeabour Park in Bechem to square it off with Bechem United.

“It’s too early to compare Afena-Gyan to me,” Asamoah Gyan advises

The legendary striker believes the AS Roma youngster has a lot to learn before he can attain greater heights

Former Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan has advised Ghanaians to lower their expectations and comparison on new prodigy Felix Afena-Gyan.

The 19-year-old A.S Roma youngster has become an instant hit this season which has led to a section of Ghanaian comparing his game style to Asamoah Gyan.

Although, Afena-Gyan has helped Ghana to book a place in the 2022 Fifa World Cup to be staged in Qatar later this year, he still has a lot of things to add to his game, according to Asamoah Gyan.

“Don’t put pressure on the boy, it’s too early to do that comparison, maybe there might be a lookalike,” Gyan told on Citi TV.

“He is a very good player, the pace and passion I watched him play in the game against Nigeria shows he wants to give something to the fans.”

“He had cramps and when a player has cramps, it shows that he gave everything, that is what I love about him,” he added.

Afena-Gyan has had a handful game time at Roma this season and reports suggest that he may be on loan at Sassuolo next season as part of his development.