Ghana finished Day 1 of the swimming competition with two 4th place finishes in the men’s 100m freestyle and the 4x100m mixed relay freestyle.
Ghana’s Stacey Harry finished 4th in the finals of the men’s 100m butterfly, narrowly missing out on a medal.
South Africa’s Clayton Jimmie grabbed the gold with a dominant display, with Namibia’s Alexander Skinner and Egypt’s Abdalla Nasr finishing second and third respectively.
Ghana’s swimming team coach, Pavel Kutashev, was however impressed by his team’s outing.
“It was a good day. It wasn’t perfect, when you consider we had two 4th places, but a good day overall, he told Joy Sports.
“The bottom line is that the athletes gave everything, and that’s what makes me happy,” he added.
There was more gloom for Team Ghana in wrestling, with all Ghanaian wrestlers eliminated on the first day of competition.
The biggest defeat came in the men’s greco 77kg category, where Ghana’s Mugis Salifu lasted less than 2 minutes in the first round before being overpowered by his Kenyan opponent Mathonya Mathayo 10-0.
Badminton provided very little good news, with Ghana’s only surviving men’s doubles team of Leslie Addo and Ebenezer Korampong suffering a painful quarterfinal loss to South Africa’s Jarred Elliott and Robert Summers to close out a very disappointing day for the team.
Ghana saw no mixed doubles or women’s doubles teams progress past the Round 16 stage.
Ghana was also dumped out of all singles events on the day, with no Ghanaian progressing past the round 16.
A London nurse once described as the “fastest woman in Africa” is retiring after almost five decades in the NHS.
Former international sprinter Rose Amankwaah, 72, represented Ghana at the 1972 Olympics and started working in the NHS in 1975.
She was initially given weekends off so she could continue her athletics training, where she ran alongside a young Linford Christie.
Mrs Amankwaah spent her whole medical career at Central Middlesex Hospital.
Mrs Amankwaah, then Rose Asiedua, won a bronze medal at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand.
She added another medal to her haul in 2023 when she was given the NHS Silver Medal Award by England’s chief nurse, Dame Ruth May.
She moved to England in 1974 aged 22, and shortly afterwards started training to be a nurse.
After finishing her training she was employed by the hospital as a staff nurse and finishes her career as theatre matron.
During her time at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, the mother-of-four and grandmother-of-10 has met both royalty and senior politicians.
She said: “I’m happy that I’m going to have some time with my family but I have been in this hospital all my life, so retirement feels like losing something – you’re part of the furniture and all of a sudden you are not going to be.
“But I’m so happy that I have achieved what I want to achieve.”
Mrs Amankwaah said that during her work in theatres she had seen major advances in surgery – with most procedures being “open” when she started, followed by a shift to laparoscopic, or keyhole, surgery and now widespread use of robotic surgery.
Her first trip in retirement will be to Ghana to visit her 87-year-old sister, with a number of other holidays in the pipeline.
Retirement also means she will be able to watch the Paris Olympics in the summer.
On her sprinting career she said: “I started running in 1958 when I was in secondary school in Ghana.
“I started representing Ghana with a high jump but then a coach came to me and said they would like to train me in 100m and 200m races.”
A London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust spokesperson said: “The NHS is all about people and we’ll all miss Rose when she goes. She is a great nurse and personality and, after 49 years, still knows how to set the pace and run the race.”
The Cameroon international joined the club from Inter Milan in July in a £47.2 million ($60 million) deal but a string of costly errors put him under huge pressure.
Onana, 27, said it had been tough to adjust to life in Britain.
“It took me six months or seven months not to play good, just to feel good,” he said.
“It was a difficult time for me. Now I’m feeling a bit better because everything was new. It was difficult for me to feel at home because of so many reasons, a new country.
“But now I’m feeling good. I don’t want to talk about my performance because I know the goalkeeper I am and I have done much more than what I just did.
“So, for me, the most important thing is to be set, to be happy and I will shine.”
Onana spoke openly about his challenging start to life in Britain ahead of United’s match against Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday.
The goalkeeper’s errors during United’s short-lived Champions League campaign were costly but his performances have since improved markedly and he believes he is now on an upward curve.
“I think I had a turning point, but not on the pitch because, like I said, more mental because everything was different,” he said.
“Of course, I moved last season from Amsterdam (Ajax) to Milan, but that adaptation was quite easy.
“But it took me seven, eight months here. It was just time to learn and just go game by game. I hope we will end on top.”
Onana said he had received support from his teammates as soon as he arrived at Old Trafford.
“They always believed in me, they told me from the beginning, ‘Andre, listen, the quality is there, it’s just a matter of time,’ he said.
“I am very happy, especially with the supporters, the fans. They were nice with me even in difficult periods and I’m very thankful. I can only thank them.
“I think everything is behind me. Now we have to move on and I think together a great time will come.”
Transfer fees have become a topic of great interest in football these days with the men’s game already hitting insane figures.
The women’s game continues to grow and the development in the last few years has led to changes in the fees being paid for some of these players.
The wealthiest women’s football clubs in the world are found in Liga F (Spanish Women’s division) and Division 1 Feminine ( France Women’s league). However, the Women’s Super League has provided equal purchasing power in terms of revenue, with Mayra Ramirez only a few days after her announcement as the most expensive female footballer moving from Levante Feminine to Chelsea’s women’s team, this only lasted a few days as Zambian footballer Racheal Kundananji took over the wheel as the most expensive female player in women’s football history.
Here are the top five most expensive women’s football transfers:
5. Jill Roord – £300,000 Manchester City managed to persuade highly-rated midfielder Jill Roord to swap Germany for England last summer, the Dutch international joining the WSL side from Champions League finalists Wolfsburg.
Despite a lack of European football for Man City this season, Roord chose to join Gareth Taylor’s side – a decision that looks justified given they currently sit second in the WSL and only three points off champions Chelsea. The £300,000 spent by Man City has proved a bargain, Roord having netted ten goals in 16 appearances in all competitions, but she will miss the rest of the season with an ACL rupture.
4. Lena Eberdorf – £450,000 The 22-year-old midfielder joined Bayern Munich from Wolfsburg making her the most expensive German female footballer.
The deal worth £450,000 ($483,000) came as no surprise as Eberdorf after joining Wolfsburg in 2020 made 99 Frauen-Bundesliga appearances and was part of Wolfsburg’s 2021-22 title-winning squad.
Eberdorf has since gone on to capp 44 times for the national team and won the best young player for the Euro 2022 where Germany succumbed to a painful defeat to England in the final.
3. Keira Walsh – £470,000 In 2022, Keira Walsh left the familiarity of England for the unknown of Spain following an eight-year tenure at Man City. The Lioness joined Barcelona for a then-record £400,000, and since then, the Liga F team has won four championships, including the Champions League. Walsh’s successful run at the 2022 European Championship, which England won, will have also attracted Barcelona’s attention. In the final, the midfielder was named player of the match.
2. Mayra Ramirez – £500,000 Mayra Ramirez, Chelsea’s most recent high-profile acquisition, cost the Blues £500,000, assuming add-ons are successful. The forward, who formerly played for Liga F team Levante, is brought in as a replacement for Sam Kerr, who suffered a permanent ACL injury.
The Colombian was a standout performer at the World Cup and contributed 25 goals to Levante’s league total in 27 games last season. Throughout the second part of the season, WSL defenders will have a difficult time stopping the 24-year-old striker, who is strong and persistent.
1. Racheal Kundananji – £805,000 With Racheal Kundananji’s transfer from Madrid CFF to newly established Bay FC in the United States, Ramirez’s short reign as the most expensive signing in women’s football has been eclipsed.
With 33 goals in 44 Liga F games for Madrid, it comes as no surprise that the 23-year-old made the transfer for an initial payment of £625,000.
When it comes to men’s or women’s football, Kundananji is the first player from Africa to break a record for transfers.
Athletes and officials of participating countries have begun arriving in Ghana for the 13th African Games set to kick off in Accra this weekend.
On Wednesday, contingent from Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco touched down in Ghana with their first party of athletes and officials, mostly badminton players.
The badminton event starts on March 3, five clear days before the opening ceremony of the event on March 8.
Apart from the North Africans, Joy Sports has also confirmed that several other teams, mostly with their badminton players, arrived in the country in the late hours of Wednesday.
All of them have been checked into hotels as the Games’ Village has yet to open to the athletes.
Black Stars head coach search committee submits report to GFA ExCO
The Black Stars head coach search committee has submitted their report and recommendations to the Executive Council (ExCO) of the Ghana Football Association for further action.
The committee has been mandated by the GFA to find a replacement for Chris Hughton and his staff who were sacked after Ghana’s abysmal performance at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, where the Black Stars crashed out at the group stage.
The President of the GFA, Kurt Okraku, personally received the report on Tuesday.
The Ghana FA on Wednesday morning said the Executive Council will review the recommendations from the search committee and decide on the next Black Stars coach.
Once the coaching decision is resolved, the GFA will engage the Ministry of Youth and Sports, as well as other key stakeholders for their support.
The GFA Executive Council tasked a five-member Committee headed by Vice President Mark Addo to find a replacement for Hughton on January 25.
The Committee was also mandated to target suitable and competent coaches for consideration even if they don’t apply for the post.
Databank CEO Kojo Addae Mensah, GFA Technical Director Professor Joseph Kwame Mintah, Ghana legend Opoku Nti and William Kartey, Chief Director of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, are the other four members of the committee.
Hearts appoint Togbui Afede XIV and new MD as directors
Accra Hearts of Oak has announced the appointment of two new directors, less than 24 hours after dissolving the previous board.
In a statement of Wednesday, Hearts said its majority shareholders, Strategic African Securities Limited and Strategic Initiatives Limited, had nominated Togbui Afede XIV and Delali Anku-Adiamah, its Managing Director, as the board members.
Togbui Afede XIV, chaired the previous board that served from 2012 to 2014.
Delali Anku-Adiamah who was hired as Managing Director on February 10, holds a PhD in Computational Systems Biology from the University of Manchester, Bsc Computer Science from the University of Birmingham, UK.
He previously worked in the Finance Department of Manchester United, Accenture as the Technology Consultant Manager, and at Markit as VP.
On Tuesday, Hearts of Oak announced it had dissolved its board of directors, in a club statement.
Tuesday’s decision ended Alhaji Alhassan Andani, Thomas Kwesi Esso, Professor Kofi Kumado, Ivy Heward Mills, Alhaji Moro Adamu, Vincent Sowah-Odotei, Dr. Nyaho-Nyaho Tamakloe, and Frank Nelson Nwokolo’s run as board members.
Wednesday’s announcement however means Togbui Afede, the majority shareholder of the club, will continue steering the affairs of the club.
Hearts are scheduled to hold this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on March 27.
Former Ghana Captain, Asamoah Gyan says he is not worried about what people have been saying about him, following his appointment to serve on Dr Mahamadu Bawumia’s 2024 campaign team.
Gyan, earlier this month, was named on the Manifesto Committee of the New Patriotic Party’s flagbearer for the 2024 elections to serve as the lead for the “Youth and Sports” manifesto sub-committee.
The former Ghana international is expected to actively communicate the sports aspect of Dr Bawumia’s manifesto when completed.
His acceptance to serve on Bawumia’s team has been received with mixed reactions from Ghanaians with some criticising the former Sunderland man. However, Gyan says he has no concerns with what has been said about his affiliation with the New Patriotic Party.
“They have their own opinions,” said Gyan at the inauguration of the NPP’s Campaign Team for the 2024 general elections, at Alisa Hotel, when quizzed about the thoughts of his critics. “I have been there [before]. I have been to stadia, been booed in front of 80,000 people, I am used to it.”
“At the end of the day, the work shows. Sometimes, you go to the enemy’s territory and you come out with applause. I have confidence in myself and I know what I can do to help. I am here to help because of my 20 years of experience. I can’t just sit at home and keep it. I have to share with the new generation to benefit from it.
“At the end of the day when everything is said and done, we see what we did or what we couldn’t do. The criticisms will come. It is also good for me personally and for my team to push harder…”
The committee has been tasked to carry out a thorough review of the party’s previous manifestos from the 2016 and 2020 elections.
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has urged Mohammed Kudus to do better in his decision-making despite his enormous talent.
Kudus returned to being decisive for West Ham United on Monday night as he set up an assist in the Hammers 4-2 win over Brentford in the Premier League.
The Ghanaian was a constant threat in Brentford’s half anytime West Ham attacked and gave the Bees’ defence a run for their money.
Despite his goal involvement, Neville, who now works as a pundit with Sky Sports, assessing the performance of Kudus, said the 23-year-old needs to step up his decisions when he gets to the final third.
“Kudus has got something, but he just needs to be a bit more mature in his final choices,” Neville said on his podcast.
“Sometimes wingers can be unpredictable, but they need to be unpredictable not just to the opposition but also to their own teammates. In the first half, he took one or two wild shots instead of making a final pass.”
“And I did say in that first half that the one thing David Moyes could say at halftime was for him to be a little bit more precise in what he was doing and that third goal came from him being more direct and putting in that lovely cross for Jarrod Bowen which was a big moment in the game.”
The assist against Brentford was Kudus’ first goal involvement since returning from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
