South Africa – AshesGyamera.Com

BLACK LEOPARDS FOOTBALL CLUB APPOINTS NEW COACH

Black Leopards Football Club has appointed Ghananian Maxwell Konadu as a head coach for the coming season. Konadu who has penned a three-year deal with ‘Lidoda Duvha’ holds CAF Coaching License A and a wealth of experience as he has previously coached teams like 24 times Ghana Premier League Champions Asante Kotoko SC.

He started his coaching career back in 2008 with the Red Bull Academy, he then had stint with Asante Kotoko SC in the 2011 – 2012 season where he won the Premier League coach of the year before his appointment as ‘The Black Stars’ assistant coach in 2023.

He returned to Asante Kotoko SC in 2019 – 2020 season and qualified them for the CAF Champions League Competition. He has also coached Legon Cities Football Club from 2021 to 2023.

His last coaching job was with with Nsoatreman Football Club with whom he just won the

MTN FA CUP two weeks ago qualifying them into the CAF Confederation Cup and finished fourth on the Ghanain Premiere League.

Some of Konadu’s honours are as follows:

Ghana Premier League Tittle 2011 – 2012 season
Qualified Ghana National U20 Team to World Youth Championship in Turkey
Qualified the Black Stars of Ghana to 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil
Won Silver Medal as in assistant in at the 2015 Afcon with the Black Stars of Ghana.

The coach played for Asante Kotoko SC between 1991 and 1993, he then played for Qatari Club Al-Arabi between 1993 and 1995. He also played for a German side Engelsbach in 1995 before moving to Portugal in 1997 until his retirement in 2000 where he played for three teams (Leiria FC, Beira – Mar FC and Marinhense FC)

He will be assisted by Solly Luvhengo, Tendai Tanyanyiwa as the Goalkeeper Coach and Majaha Ndhlovu as the Physical Trainer.

“With the Motsepe Championship, there is only one thing to play for, which is promotion and to achieve that we need to leave no stone unturned and to do that we need to have the best people in charge. We are very happy with Maxwell and we are confident that he can take us to the promised land”Said Black Leopards Chairman, Tshifhiwa Thidiela.
-Black Leopards communication

Nsoatreman reject Maxwell Konadu’s resignation; demands $60,000 from South African club

The FA Cup winners are demanding a hefty transfer fee from the South African club before they will allow Maxwell Konadu to join them

Nsoatreman FC bankroller Ignatius Baffour Awuah has rejected the resignation request by head coach Maxwell Konadu, AshesGyamera.com can exclusively reveal.

Konadu, who signed a two-year deal with the reigning FA Cup winners, tendered in his resignation after he was contacted by a South African Premier Soccer League side.

However, despite Leopards edging closer to securing Konadu for the upcoming season as their new head coach, negotiations seem to have hit a halt at the moment.

Nsoatreman owner Baffour Awuah is proving to be a hurdle. Although, the South African club reached a verbal agreement with Konadu and the latter was also assured by some top decision makers at Nsoatreman of their support, there has been an interesting twist of events.

Baffour Awuah has insisted that Black Leopards need to pay a compensation of $60,000 to have the services of Konadu since he has a one-year contract running with his club but the South African club are yet to make a breakthrough in talks.

Amid all the plea from the camp of the coach, Nsoatreman are reportedly hesitant and the South African club are also contemplating to meet what they see as a high fee, but negotiations between the two clubs continue.

AshesGyamera.com’s source have confirmed that Nsoatreman are holding firm on their financial demands as they believe any amount generated from this deal could help preparations for their maiden participation in next season’s CAF Confederation Cup.

Our sources further confirmed that Konadu and his counsel were to travel to South Africa on Tuesday but that arrangements have been put on hold at the moment, barring any last minute change.

Former Hearts of Oak coach Samuel Boadu who currently works with Berekum Chelsea has been identified as the successor to Konadu at Nsoatreman.

FIFA throw out South Africa’s protest against Ghana – Reports

The World’s football governing body has thrown out the protest filed against Ghana by South Africa, according to reports in the local media

Fifa have rejected South Africa’s protest against Ghana and Senegalese referee Maguitta Ndiaye following the 1-0 defeat a fortnight ago in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers, AshesGyamera.com understand.

The Black Stars were in a dire need of three points to top Group G and book their place in the playoffs while South Africa needed just a point, however, it was Ghana that had the last laugh.

Andre Ayew scored the only goal after referee Ndiaye awarded Ghana a penalty after Leicester City defender Daniel Amartey was heckled down in the penalty box but officials from South Africa believed that the referee was manipulated prompting a complaint to Fifa.

They further alleged that a Ghanaian official travelled to Senegal to meet referee Ndiaye before the game and manipulated the referees even before kick off.

Although, Ghana responded to the allegations on November 20, the official ruling has since not been released.

However, reports in the local media indicate that Fifa has rejected all the allegations leveled against Ghana and the referee and therefore, there will not be any replay as earlier anticipated.

Despite no evidence of match manipulation and fixing found, Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguitta, however, will likely be punished with some games ban since his general performance was below average, according to the match review panel.

Ghana will progress to the next stage of the competition and face either Senegal who are currently the best ranked county on the continent or Morocco.

There is also a possibility of the Black Stars facing Nigeria, Tunisia or Mali since these countries complete the top five ranked countries left in the qualifiers.

The official draw for the playoffs has been moved from December to January, 2022 and the games have been scheduled for March 2022 after the Africa Cup of Nations.

Ghana qualified to their maiden participation at the World Cup in 2006 and were also present in 2010 and 2014 editions held in South Africa and Brazil respectively.

However, they missed the 2018 edition by a whisker after South African referee Daniel Bennett robbed them of a late goal against Uganda. Although, they protested, Fifa only banned the referee and stood by the scoreline which aided Egypt to qualify in the end.

Asamoah Gyan insists the penalty awarded to Ghana against South Africa was ‘TOO EASY’

The country’s all-time top scorer has insisted that Daniel Amartey went down too easily in the World Cup qualifiers against Bafana Bafana

Ghana legend Asamoah Gyan says the penalty awarded Black Stars to qualify over South Africa to the playoffs of 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers was quite an easy type.

According to the 36-year-old, Leicester City defender Daniel Amartey went down too easily after the challenge by the South African defender and because there was a high tempo in the game, it forced Senegalese referee Maguette Ndiaye to award Ghana a penalty.

Andre Ayew who was making his 100th cap for Ghana finished off the penalty beautifully as he sent the goalkeeper to the wrong side.

“I think the incident was a bit casual,” Gyan told Asempa FM in an interview.

“There weren’t many cameras on the day to give us different angles unlike what we see in other league matches elsewhere but from where I sat and how I saw it, the infringement was debatable. I think Daniel Amartey went down too easily.

“This is my thought based on where I sat and how I saw things. However, the referee was closer to the spot and probably had he a better view of the situation.

“Remember also that the tempo of the game was also high and that could have influenced the referee’s decision to award the spot-kick to Ghana

“We all Ghanaians and support the Black Stars to win games so I always follow them even though I’m not part of the squad. I’m always supporting them to qualify to the World Cup. If I compare the game against Ethiopia and South Africa, I would say the Black Stars were better against South

“In the game against Ethiopia, Black Stars were dominated throughout but they improved their performance against South Africa,”

Gyan further revealed that he is working tediously to lose weight since he wants to return to club football in January.

“Currently, I’m training and working so hard in order to lose some weight. Just like I’ve been saying all the time, I want to be back in January to play club football so I’m working hard on my fitness.

“I have to lose weight so that I can play competitive football next year because I believe there are a lot of things that I can do on the field before I hang my boots,” he added.

Gyan has scored 51 goals for Ghana since making his debut in 2003. He is the first ever player to score in nine consecutive tournaments including Africa Cup of Nations and Fifa World Cup.

Why Fifa will exonerate Ghana and punish South Africa for lodging match fixing protest

The South Africans only courted for public sympathy to cover up their bad performance as they have failed to qualify to the Afcon and World Cup in one year

Following the purported protest by the South African Football Association after the WC Qualifier with Ghana, I swiftly brushed off the calls of the SAFA insisting that they were not serious and that they were just making noise.

The media gimmickry from the SAFA was only to achieve one purpose; take off pressure from South Africans from the shoulders of the SAFA.

The Bafana Bafana failed to qualify for the 2022 AFCON and failing to qualify for the WC playoff stage meant they weren’t going to the world cup, and that in turn means South Africans won’t forgive the Danny Jordaan-led association.

So the SAFA felt they had a good platform of shifting the pressure from South Africans by ringing the protest bell.

Even before the response of the Ghana FA, I had said on my submissions on several Radio and TV stations both in Ghana and South Africa that their calls lacked merit and now it’s clear.

After the response from the Ghana FA to FIFA after the world football governing body requested the GFA to respond, the following are clear:

South Africa never lodged an official protest to FIFA. They were only paying lip service. This is because FIFA says if u have a protest;

Write it formally. They didn’t.
Pay protest fee. They didn’t.
Do all these within 24 hours. They didn’t.

The SAFA claimed ‘Match Fixing’ but failed to name who fixed the match and with who. If a match is fixed, fixers. They failed to name who and who fixed the match.
The SAFA claimed ‘Match Manipulation’ but failed to mention who and who manipulated the match. Certainly, if u claim a match has been manipulated, then someone did it. Who was that? The SAFA failed to name that person.
The SAFA also mentioned bribery and corruption in the game but again, failed to name who bribed who.

Clearly, you could sense from the very day they sent their supposed protest to FIFA that they were just drowning and were desperately looking for anything to save them from sinking.

To my fellow brothers in South Africa, the SAFA has deceieved you into believing that they had a case when in actual fact, they didn’t even file an official protest.

How on earth, will a whole body like SAFA, go to the MC of the game and just say we want to lodge a protest without even writing something on paper to show they are in for business?

How on earth will the SAFA write to FIFA when they had not lodged any written protest with the MC as stipulated by Article 14(2) of the 2022 WC Regulations?

Isn’t it unpardonable for a whole body like SAFA to write to FIFA without any evidence to support their claims, and then indicate they will tender in evidence in 72 hours when in actual fact it must be done in 24 hours?

Does it mean the SAFA did not even know the regulations governing the competition?

Why will they spend hours organising pressers and issuing warnings to Ghana when the basic things needed to be done had not even been attended to?

Can the SAFA be taken serious from hence? With this, I doubt because even before the game, they didn’t even know that Ghana needed just a simple win to qualify. They were thinking Ghana had to score more than a goal to go through.

Clearly, all the noise they made on radio and tv in South Africa with analysis of 90% of fouls going against the Bafana Bafana in the game were all geared towards courting public sympathy from South Africans and nothing else.

Will I be magnanimous to say the SAFA is confused?

– Tophic Seinu

“Ghana were lucky since the penalty against South Africa was SOFT,” Black Stars defender Yiadom insists

The defender has admitted that the Black Stars were fortunate to be awarded a soft penalty which aided their qualification

Ghana defender Andy Yiadom has revealed that he feels South Africa were unfortunate to have conceded a soft penalty against the Black Stars last weekend in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.

The Reading full back says that after watching replays of the penalty that was awarded Ghana after Daniel Amartey was brought down could’ve been overlooked.

“When I was on the pitch it looked like it was a penalty, but I have watched it back it looks like it could be a little bit soft,” Yiadom told World Football on the BBC World Service.

“But it is football and I have had them given against me plenty of times and it is one of those things and it was about actually scoring the penalty which we did.

“I have been the person who has just touched him and the other person has just fallen over. At the moment I know we won the game and that’s that.”

Yiadom also revealed that none of the players has talked about this incident on their social media group.

“We have a WhatsApp group but nothing has really been said in it and I haven’t really been following it – has been pretty hectic and I have been travelling a lot and been in training and have to crack on with the game (for Reading against Nottingham Forest) on Saturday.” he said.

Yiadom says that the return to Ghana of Milovan Rajevac after several years away was a good move for the Black Stars.

“It has been really good and I think he knows the logistics of Ghana and I think that’s helping and everyone’s taken to him and it is a good appointment,” he insisted.

South Africa have since lodged a compliant at Fifa and Caf since they believe that Senegalese referee Ndiaye was manipulated by Ghana.

‘The referees and Ghanaians rehearsed how to cheat South Africa in World Cup qualifiers,’ says De Reuck

The defender has opened up on the much talked about penalty that was awarded against him after he tackled Daniel Amartey

South Africa international Rushine De Reuck has insisted that Senegalese referee Ndiaye and the players of Ghana had a rehearsal on how to cheat them following the 1-0 defeat in Fifa World Cup qualifiers on Sunday.

With South Africa needing just a draw to top Group G, Bafana Bafana were undone by a 33rd minute penalty after De Reuck was adjudged to have fouled Daniel Amartey in the box.

Ghana captain Andre Ayew stepped up and sent the resulting kick into the net. The goal proved to be the only effort Ghanaians needed to qualify ahead of the South Africans..

However, after the game, a lot of commentaries have been heard about the referee’s performance and South Africa Football Association believes the match officials were manipulated. As a result, they have officially lodged a compliant at Caf and Fifa seeking for a redress.

“It was a big game and we knew what it would mean for the country, and we were ready playing against the best in the world,” De Reuck said at the press conference.

“But I felt the opportunity to get a good result was taken away. The decision that were made, it felt like the game was rehearsed – from the referees and the ball boys. The first 10 minutes we already saw that we were not going to get anything right. We continued to fight,” he added.

Meanwhile, a private video investigator was hired by SAFA to critically analyse the game and he concluded that 91 per cent of the referee’s decisions were in accurate especially in the first half.

“I used 5 hours and 17 minutes to review the first half because this was where all the alleged manipulation happened. I kept pausing the video and then go back for a replay,” the independent investigator for SAFA

“There were only five incorrect decisions in the second half so I spent a little over two hours to review the game in that half. I enjoyed watching football in the second half because the referee allowed the match to flow,” he added.

Breaking News: Fifa opens investigations into penalty awarded Ghana against South Africa

The World’s football governing body has on Tuesday confirmed that they have received a complaint from South Africa and will work on it

Fifa has confirmed that they have received an official protest from South Africa citing an alleged cheating in the World Cup qualifier against Ghana last weekend.

The Black Stars won 1-0 to make it to the playoffs of the World Cup qualifiers thanks to penalty awarded them after Senegalese referee Maguette Ndiaye adjudged Daniel Amartey was heckled down in the box.

The decision did not go down well with the top hierarchy of South Africa Football Association and they petitioned FIFA on Monday.

SAFA believes the referee could have been manipulated and that led to such decisions.

“FIFA has received a complaint from the South African FA in relation to this matter and will review it. Please understand we cannot comment further at this stage,” FIFA said on Tuesday in response to a media query over the status of the complaint by SAFA.

Milovan makes two changes in Ghana’s squad to face South Africa; Yiadom, Aidoo dropped

The Serbian has ringed changes in the squad that started against Ethiopia as the Black Stars take on Bafana Bafana in the all-important game

Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac has announced his starting line up for the cliffhanger encounter against South Africa in the last round of the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium on Sunday.

Israel-based striker Richmond Boakye Yiadom and Celta Vigo defender Joseph Aidoo have been dropped to the bench after their poor performance in the stalemate with Ethiopia last week.

Strasbourg defender Alexander Djiku who missed the game against Ethiopia due to accumulated cards has returned to take his place while Mubarak Wakaso has also been handed a starting berth.

Andre Ayew will be playing as a false nine as he partners his younger brother Jordan Ayew upfront while Kudus Mohammed will provide support in a 4-3-3 formation.

Ghana need a win at all cost to win Group G and qualify for the playoffs in their bid to book a place for the World Cup to be staged in Qatar next year.

Ghana Starting line-up vs. South Africa

16 Wollacott Joseph
12 Kyere – Yiadom Andrew
17 Baba Rahman
23 Alexander Djiku
18 Daniel Amartey
11 Mubarak Wakaso
10 Andre Ayew(C)
21 Mohammed Baba Iddrisu
9 Jordan Ayew
20 Mohammed Kudus
22 Kamal-Deen Suleman

Video: Black Stars train into the night in Cape Coast ahead of South Africa clash

The Black Stars held their last training session on Saturday evening at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium as they fine turn to host South Africa in the last round of matches in Group G of 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.

Ghana, who sit second on the log with 10 points, three points behind South Africa, need a win at all cost to top the group and qualify to the knockout stage.

The training which began in the evening if Saturday came to an end in the night as coach Milovan Rajevac used the opportunity to rehearse the game plan he hopes the players will use on Sunday to undo the South Africans.