Dreams FC made history on Sunday night when they became the first Ghanaian club to make the semi finals of the CAF Confederation Cup in its current format.
Dreams drew 1-1 with Stade Malien of Mali in Kumasi to complete a 3-2 aggregate win, thanks to a 2-1 first leg victory.
The last time a Ghanaian club went this far in CAF’s second tier competition was back in 2004, when Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko made the final of the inaugural competition.
Along with the history, Dreams FC have also secured a hefty pay out of US$750,000 for reaching the last four.
The Dawn-based club will earn an extra US$250,000 if they can reach the final, which would bring their total earnings to US$1,000,000 even if they lose the final.
Winning the competition will double that figure to a whopping US$2,000,000.
These figures are based on CAF’s new prize money for the competition, which was announced in 2023.
Karim Zito’s men take on Egyptian giants Zamalek in the last four, with the first leg in Cairo on April 21, and the return leg in Kumasi 7 days later.
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.
Ghana’s Black Bombers won a historic four gold medals on the final day of the men’s boxing competition at the Accra 2023 African Games.
Commonwealth silver medalist Joseph Commey, Olympic bronze medalist Samuel Takyi, Amadu Mohammed, and Mohammed Aryeetey all secured gold in their respective weight divisions.
The first gold medal of the night was won by Mohammed Aryeetey, who only returned to the amateur ranks last year, ahead of the African Games.
Aryeetey defeated Tulembekwa Zola Livens, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, via a unanimous decision in the men’s Minimum weight division.
Two hours later, Joseph Commey defeated Zambia’s Andrew Chilata in the men’s lightweight final to bag Ghana’s second gold medal.
Having won silver at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022, the African Games gold adds to Commey’s improving resume.
Commey won the lightweight contest via a unanimous decision.
In the men’s Bantamweight final, Amadu Mohammed dispatched Zambia’s Mwale Mengo via a unanimous decision.
Next on the schedule was, Samuel Takyi, and he, like the three Black Bombers before, did not disappoint.
Takyi fought off a spirited performance by Zambia’s Emmanuel Katema to secure gold in the light welterweight final.
Despite dropping his opponent twice, the Zambian still threatened to ruin the party. Takyi slipped in the third round when he tried to block a combination of right and left hooks from the Zambian.
However, Takyi recovered thanks to his superior ring craft to bring home the medal.
Friday’s gold at the African Games adds to Takyi’s bronze medal from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Friday’s haul is the most in a single day by Ghana at any African Games Boxing competition.
It’s also the most gold medal won by Ghana in a single African Games competition.
Meanwhile, Abubakar Kamoko, son of Braimah Kamoko, settled for silver after losing the Cruiserweight final to Algeria’s Ousama Kanouni.
Telecommunications giants MTN has reiterated its commitment to the MTN FA Cup competition with exciting activations while calling for female participation in the quarter-final stages and beyond.
Aside from the GH¢1.5 million support for the competition every year till 2026, MTN has proposed to the FA to consider gender inclusivity in officiating.
“After celebrating International Women’s Day so beautifully, we propose that the FA considers using an all-female officiating team, to ensure that our ladies are not left out of the excitement,” the Senior Manager, Brands Communications, MTN Ghana Mr Germain Nartey, has said.
He made these comments when the quarter-final draw of the competition was held.
That he said, would go a long way to motivate women to participate in officiating and also attract more females to the competition.
In addition, he said, they had put in place other activities to attract a larger audience to various centres as the competition gets to its climax.
In the media space, he said MTN hopes to work with media partners on the ‘MTN FA Cup Arena,’ where there would be discussions on the game with a call-in segment for callers to answer questions and win some prizes.
“There will be street quiz for social media as well as activations that will earn participants prizes and match tickets,” he stated.
With community activations, he said, MTN would ignite community participation by forming partnerships with community-park managers, and local radio stations to visit weekend Community Game Centres to run activations.
“We will provide tents, branded panels, water stands, souvenir giveaways, discounted and complimentary tickets. We are hopeful that these activations will bring the communities closer to the FA Cup while at the same time giving us the opportunity to support community football,” he stressed.
He said these community game centres would promote discussions, create networking opportunities, and serve as a business arena.
“We want to use the games to drive progress in our communities. On match days, there would be Fan Zones at the various stadia. Fans will have the opportunity to engage in activities such as Target Shooting and Wheel of Fortune to win prizes,” he said.
He said, the 2023/2024 season of the MTN FA Cup promises to be exciting and anticipating spectacular skills and brilliant moments.
At the end of the draw defending champions Dreams FC would face off with lower tier side Soccer Intellectuals while Bofoakwa Tano would battle it out with Skyy FC for a place in the semi-finals of the competition.
It would be a premier league teams affair as last year’s semi-finalist Nsoatreman FC squares off with Karela United in a very exciting fixture while Legon Cities and Bechem Utd would fight for a place in the next round.
The games would be played between March 29 and April 1.
The Chairman of the MTN FA Cup Committee, Mr Wilson Arthur said the competition level was very high despite the elimination of top clubs including Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.
He said, organisers were looking forward to an exciting round and urged families especially ladies and children to visit the venues for quality time.
Ghana won gold in the men’s football event at the 2023 African Games on Friday night, beating Uganda in the final at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Jerry Afriyie scored the only goal of the game for the Black Satellites to ensure they repeated their heroics at the 2011 edition in Maputo.
Ghana started the game brilliantly and looked to have found the opening goal inside 20 minutes the referee disallowed it for an infringement inside the box.
There were a couple of decent chances for both teams in the first half but it was Ghana who came close again through Abdul Hakim Sulemana but was unable to break the deadlock.
Both teams headed into the break with nothing to separate them.
Desmond Ofei’s men continued their dominance at the Accra Sports Stadium and took the game to the Ugandans.
The final piece was still the missing link for Ghana who persisted in their press for the winner.
With just added time to go, Ofei’s side found a breakthrough.
Afriyie received a pass just on the edge of the box before firing a brilliant low strike that beat the Ugandan goalkeeper to give Ghana the lead.
The Satellites held their nerves to protect their lead and clinch gold at the end of the tournament.
Uganda settled for silver while the bronze medal went to Senegal.
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.
Ghanaian long distance runner, William Amponsah, won silver in the men’s half marathon race competed on Friday morning at the ongoing African Games in Accra.
The national 10,000m record holder crossed the finish line in one hour, five minutes and thirteen seconds (1:05:13) in the event that took place at the University of Ghana campus.
His time was just nine seconds behind the eventual Amare Hailemicael of Eritrea. Zimbabwe’s Isaac Mpofu finished third in 1:05:37 to claim bronze.
William Amponsah’s compatriot, Koogo Atia, finished fifteenth in one hour, 12 minutes and 14 seconds (1:12:14).
Earlier, Amponsah set a new national record in the men’s 10,000m event despite finishing fifth. He took 2.79 seconds off his 29:53.78 he ran in 2020.
hana is set to secure more medals in the boxing competition after Joseph Commey and Mohammed Aryeetey both qualified for the finals of their various completions.
After Janet Acquah’s bronze medal in the minimum weight category on Wednesday, Aryeetey and Commey’s progress means Ghana will do one better in the men’s boxing.
Aryeetey was the first to qualify on Wednesday after winning his semi-final contest with Morocco’s Hamza Essaidi via a unanimous (5-0) decision.
All five judges scored in favour of the minimum weight boxer in the men’s 48k contest at the Boxing Arena in the Trust Sports Emporium, Bukom.
An hour later, Joseph Commey also dispatched Algerian Oussama Mordjane. The lightweight boxer qualified with a majority (4-1) decision in the men’s 60kg event.
Later today, the following Ghanaian boxers will be involved in various semi-final contests:
Theophilus Kpakpo Allotey – Flyweight -51kg.
Amadou Mohammed – Bantamweight -54Kg
Samuel Takyi – Light Welterweight -63.5Kg
Abubakar Kamoko – Cruiserweight -86Kg
Whatever happens tonight, Ghana are guaranteed seven medals (out of the 16 presented) by the end of the boxing competition.
Ramatu Quaye, Adelaide Djabartey, Sarah Apew, Abdul Walid Omar, Alfred Kotey, Henry Malm, Abdul Baki Adam & Jonathan Tetteh, and Daniel Plange are the boxers who could not make it to the medal zone.
Team Ghana will have four representatives in the semifinal of the men’s and women’s 200m event at the ongoing African Games.
Janet Mensah sealed her place in the women’s event with a time of 23.75s winning her heat.
Joseph Amoah (20.91s) and Ibrahim Fuseini (21.02s) won their respective heats in the men’s event as well while Solomon Hammond (21.32s) finished second in his heats to also book a place in the semifinal.
The women’s semis starts at 16:45 GMT while the men’s start at 17:10 GMT.
