Major League Soccer (MLS) side New England Revolution is on the verge of securing the services of Black Stars defensive midfielder Baba Iddrisu from La Liga club Mallorca, according to reports from Spanish news outlet Relevo.
Relevo has indicated that negotiations between New England Revolution and Almeria, where Baba Iddrisu is currently on loan from Mallorca, are progressing positively.
Although nothing has been finalized yet, New England is eager to conclude the deal.
Iddrisu, who joined RCD Mallorca’s youth setup in January 2014, has since made significant strides in Spanish football. After featuring prominently for Mallorca’s first team, he moved to Almeria on loan with a buyout clause in August 2023.
Despite facing challenges at Almeria, The 28-year-old has demonstrated his consistency and reliability as a defensive midfielder, making 24 appearances in the ongoing La Liga season.
With 150 games under his belt for Mallorca’s first team Baba Iddrisu’s potential move to New England Revolution represents a significant opportunity for the Ghana midfielder to further advance his career.
Moreover, Baba Iddrisu’s performances have not gone unnoticed, earning him recognition as a consistent player in the Spanish league and a regular presence in the Ghana national team, the Black Stars.
As he looks forward to potentially joining New England Revolution, Iddrisu is also expected to play a crucial role in the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers with the Black Stars, scheduled for June 2024.
Sports consultant to the Ministry of Youth and Sports for the 13th African Games, William Blick has emphasized the need for Ghana to host international and domestic events, believing it is the only way the facilities will be maintained properly.
Ghana successfully hosted 54 countries in 29 sporting disciplines across 9 venues including the University of Ghana Sports Stadium, The Borteyman Sports Complex, Bukum Boxing Arena, Cape Coast Sports Stadium, Theodosia Oko Hockey pitch, Accra Sports Stadium, Achimota Cricket Oval, Laboma Beach Resort among other venues in the recently ended the 13th African Games.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Ministry of Youth and Sports media briefing dubbed “Time with Accra 2023 medallist on Monday at the University of Ghana sports stadium, the International Olympic committee member, Blick highlighted the need for the President to initiate the Ghana games.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has charged the playing body of Asante Kotoko to turn their ailing season around in the final stretch of the campaign after their recent misfortunes.
Kotoko are winless in seven games in the Ghana Premier League and occupy the 11th position after 26 genes played.
The team met the Asantehene who opened discussions with the players and technical team to determine the issues accountable for their poor performances.
He also used the opportunity to address the team’s grievances.
In his discussion with the team, he stated explicitly that “no member of the team works for any individual but him, and therefore should put their differences aside and fight for the team, as he won’t watch the team go down under his reign.”
“I am expecting something better from you,” said Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
“Prove to me that you are capable and if the coach is the problem, then I will take a decision on him. But for now, make sure you go and play and win.”
The Porcupine Warriors take on league leaders FC Samartex on Sunday on matchday 27 of the league looking to bounce back to winning ways.
The All Regional Games kicked off its nationwide journey towards revitalising grassroots sports with a spectacular Torch Relay ceremony reminiscent of the Olympic Games.
The torch relay ceremony which was held on Thursday, April 18, at the Black Stars Square in Accra, set the tone for a nationwide movement aimed at rejuvenating the spirit of sportsmanship and athleticism across the country.
The ceremonial torch was ignited by the Director General of the National Sports Authority, Dadzie Numekevor, alongside the celebrated football icons Asamoah Gyan and Baffour Gyan.
This symbolic gesture marks the beginning of an inspirational journey to promote and nurture sporting talent at the grassroots level.
A city-wide float procession traversed the streets of Accra, carrying the illuminated torch to prominent landmarks, effectively raising awareness for the upcoming All Regional Games.
The participation of esteemed torchbearers including a Para-athlete, boxing legend Braima Kamoko (Bukom Banku), ex-Black Stars players Agyemang Badu, Samuel Inkoom, Kwadwo Asamoah and the Gyan brothers, Asamoah and Baffour, added to the fervour and excitement surrounding the event.
The All Regional Games aims to traverse all 16 Regions of the nation, scouting for promising athletes across eight sporting disciplines, including soccer, athletics, boxing, tennis, basketball, arm-wrestling, volleyball, and table tennis.
This comprehensive approach underscores the commitment of the All Regional Games to foster talent development and sports excellence at every level.
The main launch of the All Regional Games sports festival is slated for June at the Baba Yara Stadium.
ormer Ghana international Laryea Kingston has been appointed the head coach of the Black Starlets.
Kingston, who previously worked under Karim Zito as Ghana’s U-17 assistant coach, has now taken over the head coach role.
The former Hearts of Oak and Great Olympics winger has already been in charge of the team in their recent friendly games ahead of their upcoming WAFU B tournament.
Kingston will be assisted by former Hearts captain, Jacob Nettey, and Nana Agyemang.
Nettey led the Phobians to the famous CAF Champions League glory in 2000 during his playing days.
He featured for the Black Stars during the Africa Cup of Nations in 2000 (co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria) and was a member of the Ghana squad at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, USA.
The former Black Stars defender won six Premier League titles and three FA Cup trophies during his stint with Accra Hearts of Oak.
Nana Agyemang is a CAF Licence A and UEFA Licence B holder who previously worked with Adenta United, Barbarossa Academy, the Lizzy Sports Complex Academy and ProGen Football Club.
The new technical team has been tasked to assemble a formidable squad for the next edition of the WAFU B U-17 Cup of Nations, Accra 2024 and the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Chief Executive Officer of the All Regional Games, Tiana Addae, says there is a long-term plan to ensure the competition goes beyond this year.
The first edition of the initiative is set to place in November 2024 as revealed during the press launch on Tuesday, April.
The idea of the Games is to help in the identification and development of young talents from all parts of the country.
Concerns were raised about the sustainability of the competition if the maiden edition becomes a success. However, Addae has revealed the competition is here to stay.
“[All Regional Games] is a long-term plan that we will be doing,” said the CEO.
“It’s not just for this year. It is continuous.”
The much-anticipated competition will feature athletes competing in nine sports disciplines; football, athletics, volleyball, basketball, tennis, table tennis, boxing, eSports, and arm-wrestling.
Addae also emphasised they are open to working with other professionals who are willing available themselves to ensure the success of the Games.
“We are open to other athletes [at the] regional. Old athletes, current athletes or anyone that is in a discipline that has been professional and wants to join us, we are more than happy to bring them on board.”
The regional activities will be held between June 9 and 30 with the national festival expected to be staged in November.
The 2023 African Games concluded on Saturday with a colourful ceremony to cap off 16 days of wonderful competition.
At the end of the games, Ghana amassed 69 medals overall, the country’s most medal haul in the 59-year history of the competition.
The breakdown of the medals has Ghana winning 19 Gold, 29 silver and 21 bronze, all from 10 sporting disciplines. Armwrestling chipped in the most medals, contributing 41 medals, which is 60% of the country’s total haul.
Let’s now delve into the details of where the medals came from and which athletes won them.
Weightlifting (3 medals)
Weightlifting was the first to win medals for Ghana, with all three medals coming from 21-year-old Winnifred Ntumi.
Ntumi won two silver medals in the 49k Clean-Jerk and the 49kg Snatch, before picking up gold in the overall women’s 49kg category.
Boxing (7 medals)
Boxing waited till the penultimate day of competition to deliver a stunning 4 gold medals in front of a torturous crowd at the Bukom Boxing Arena.
Commonwealth silver medalist Joseph Commey, Olympic bronze medalist Samuel Takyi, Amadu Mohammed, and Mohammed Aryeetey all secured gold in their respective weight divisions.
Abubakar Kamoko, son of Braimah Kamoko, settled for silver after losing the Cruiserweight final to Algeria’s Ousama Kanouni.
Theophilus Allotey and Janet Acquah also contributed two bronze medals in boxing, after being stopped in the semi-finals of their respective fights.
Athletics (6 medals)
Athletics brought home 6 medals, with 3 gold medals coming from Joseph Paul Amoah in the men’s 200m, Evans Cadman in the men’s high jump, and Rose Yeboah in the women’s high jump.
he men’s 4x100m relay team picked a silver after being beaten by Nigeria, and the women’s 4x100m relay team settled for bronze, while William Amponsah brought home an impressive silver medal in the men’s half marathon event.
Armwrestling (41)
Armwrestling contributed 60% of the country’s total medal haul, with multiple wrestlers picking up multiple medals in the process.
The 8 arm-wrestling medals came from Blessed Abeka, who picked two gold medals in both the women’s 60kg Right Arm and Left Arm; Edward Asamoah, who won two gold medals in both the men’s 90kg Right Arm and Left Arm; Grace Mintah, with two gold from the women’s 80kg Right Arm and Left Arm.
Godwin Sackey and Mabel Yeboah then chipped in with two gold medals in the men’s 75kg Left Arm and the women’s 55kg Right Arm respectively.
There were 19 silver medals from arm-wrestling, which came from Derrick Adu Kwakye (2), Daniel Acquah (2), Henry Otoo (2), Isaac Amugi (2), with Issah Kunya, Bukari Phildaus, Roselyn Lartey, Eugenia Ntow, Amuda Issah, Rashida Alhassan, Kadri Mariam, Amuda Mariam, Lankai Rachael, Mary Quaye, all picking up one silver medal apiece.
There were 14 bronze medals in arm-wrestling, which came from Abdul Somed Saana (2), Nunoo Perpetual, Godwin Sakey, Eugenia Ntow, Wisdom Abromekyi, Issah Kunya, Mabel Yeboah, Ackah Naa Korkor, Bukari Phildaus, Issahak Abdul, Kadri Mariam, and Mary Quaye.
Football brought home two gold medals in both the men’s and the women’s competitions. The Black Princesses beat Nigeria 2-1 in extra time to claim the gold in Cape Coast before the Black Satellites replicated the feat by beating Uganda 1-0 in Accra on Friday.
It’s the first time one country has won gold in both the men’s and women’s football competitions at a single games.
Hockey (2 medals)
Hockey contributed a gold and a silver medal to Ghana’s medal count. The Women’s hockey team needed penalties to beat Nigeria in the final played on Friday, but the men lost their final match to Egypt on penalties, despite rallying back from 2 goals down to take the match to a shootout.
Taekwondo (2 medals)
Kelvin Amo and Kelvin Tuagbor won two silver medals for Ghana in the Taekwando over 17 category.
22-year-old Tuagbor lost the gold to Egypt’s Ganatalla Amed in the Individual Freestyle Poompsae, while 18-year-old Amuzu also lost his Individual Freestyle Poompsae to Egyptian Ahmed Hassan.
Swimming (2 medals)
Abeku Jackson won both of Ghana’s medals in swimming – a silver in the men’s 50m butterfly and a bronze in the 100m butterfly event.
Volleyball (1)
The men’s volleyball team won a bronze for Ghana, beating Cameroon 4-3 in the bronze medal match.
Ghana lost 3-1 to eventual winners, Egypt, in the semi-finals before recovering to take the bronze at the expense of Cameroon.
Basketball 3×3 (2)
Ghana picked up two medals in the basketball 3×3 held at the University of Ghana basketball courts.
The U-23 men won a silver medal after losing to Algeria 16-11 in the final.
Hannah Amoako then won a bronze in the women’s shootout contest.
Ghanaian high jumper, Evans Yamoah Cadman, was the toast of fans at the University of Ghana Stadium, as he claimed a stunning gold medal in the men’s high jump event on the last day of athletics at the ongoing African Games.
The former University of Ghana student, roared on by students of the university who had trooped to support their alumnus, scaled a height of 2.23m to claim the gold ahead of Morocco’s Hammouda Saad and South Africa’s Benjamin Links Mpho.
The height is a new Personal Best for the University of Central Missouri final year student.
After skipping 1.90m up to 2.0m, Cadman started his jump at 2.05m and barely broke a sweat as he cleared the bar barely broke a sweat as he cleared the bar 6 times, requiring only one jump in all but one height.
Cadman and Saad both cleared 2.21m in one attempt, while Mpho joined them at the 3rd time of asking.
But 2.23m was where the title was won, with both the South African and Moroccan failing to clear the bar, while Cadman scaled it on his 3rd attempt, before breaking into ‘siuuuu’ celebration, made popular by football star Cristiano Ronaldo. The gold was won, and pandemonium ensued and Cadman reeled to celebrate with the teeming fans in the stands.
He came back to attempt 2.25, but he was unsuccessful in three attempts.
The high jump gold was Ghana’s second on the track on the last day, with Joseph Paul Amoah securing the 200m title an hour before Cadman.
The men’s high jump means Ghana completed the high jump double, with Rose Yebaoh, also winning gold in the women’s event.
Nearly 24 hours after Ghana beat Nigeria in the Africa Games’ U-20 women’s football final, the hosts once again defeated their West African rivals in a tense affair in the hockey final.
The Ghana women’s hockey team, Black Sticks, secured Ghana’s 12th gold medal at the 2023 African Games after defeating Nigeria on penalties in the final at the Theodosia Okoh Hockey Pitch.
Initially, Ghana’s team had defeated Nigeria 1-0 en route to the final. But the Nigerian team started stronger in the finals, signalling their intent to avenge the earlier loss.
The Nigerian ladies piled pressure but fine saves from Ghana’s shot stopper, Abigail Boye prevented them from scoring.
After two-quarters of an underwhelming performance, the Black Sticks began to find their rhythm in the third quarter creating chances and pinning the Nigerians at their own half.
But, the Nigerian goalkeeper Uko Martha made scoring difficult for the Ghanaian players as she came up with super saves to prevent the ball from entering her net.
After four quarters of huffing and puffing, the game had to be decided on penalties.
Goalkeeper Abigail Boye came to the rescue as her four penalty saves helped Ghana beat Nigeria 4-3 on penalties to win gold.
