Sports
Kudos, Akpokavie, Okraku
Exactly a week today, the hard work of two sports personalities paid off in grand style as both begun new journeys in higher offices in their respective careers.
Mr Richard Kofi Akpokavie was voted into office as the new President of the Ghana Olympic Committee after a landslide victory over Michael Odum Aggrey at the Committee’s Elective Congress last Saturday.
It marked a return to mainstream administration of the GOC, having served as General Secretary in the last term of Prof. Francis Dodoo’s administration and the first term of Ben Nunoo Mensah’s tenure.
Few metres away from the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) where the Congress was held was the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City where Ghana Football Association (GFA) capo, Kurt Simeon-Okraku was appointed as 2nd Vice President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Indeed, it was a reward for hard work having championed developmental projects in his homeland Ghana and the West Africa Football Union (WAFU) Zone B.
Without doubt, this must be a period for every Ghanaian sports fanatic to be happy.
Going by the popular adage that, a prophet is not recognized in his own home, Okraku is on record to be one of the fiercely criticized FA presidents, being taken on failures with national teams, alleged corrupt practices and many others.
But as stated in an earlier piece, the position of the critics have clouded the little gains he has chalked like the development of academies, the improvement in women’s football and projects at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence (GSCE).
It can certainly not be true that the Ghana FA President is not doing anything right yet kept gaining international recognition. At least, the ‘Catch Them Young’ refereeing policy is one a lot of countries have eyed.
There may be something hidden the critics must find; but that is not to suggest he is a saint or a perfectionist.
Mr Akpokavie’s election will also breathe new life into the GOC, according to some of the delegates that were part of the process.
That optimism, perhaps may be coming from his strong resolve to empower women in the sector to rise up and occupy leadership positions, give athletes a voice on the GOC executive and Congress.
His biggest ambition has been the call for an introduction of an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism in the administration of sports in the country to curb or reduce the number of sports cases at the traditional courts.
When this is made mandatory, it would force litigants to exhaust the dispute resolution options at the federations and the GOC, making the court option unattractive and the last option.
This is no doubt a way to go to make sports administration free of associated troubles that hinders its growth and development.
Akpokavie and Okraku have no doubt made Ghana proud but must also know that when the cheers die down, every step they take would be carefully scrutinised.
The new roles would come with new challenges but their ability to weather those storms is what would define their readiness to lead the new sports revolution
By Andrew Nortey
Otto Addo is taking a calm and focused approach to the World Cup after being drawn against England, Panama, and Croatia in Group L.
“I look forward to every game as special,” he told ghanafa.org.
“Very important for us that we don’t underrate any team. For sure, England is the favourite in that group,” he acknowledged. “But for me as a coach, to be honest, I’m looking at each and every game equally.”
Addo is particularly focused on getting a strong start against Panama. “I’m hoping that we have a good start against Panama, that will be very, very crucial,” he said. “It will make the other games a little bit more relaxed and easier for the players psychologically. We will use the window of March for test matches, and then see,” he said.
Despite being a young team, Addo is proud of his squad’s progress. “I think we did very well in the qualifiers ” he said. “We didn’t lose a single official game, like the qualifying games, we did very well. We just played one draw and the rest we won, so we had quite a good year in 2025, after a bad year in 2024’’.
“Even though we have a very young team, we really, really did well, had a good harmony in the team, good union,” he added.
Ghana will open their FIFA World Cup campaign against Panama in Toronto on June 17 before facing England and Croatia in the other Group L matches on June 23 and 27 respectively.
The unbeaten away run of Accra Hearts of Oak will be put to the test tomorrow when they visit the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in Tamale to play as guests of Karela United. Described as one of the top-liners of the weekend games, the match will pitch one of the best home teams against the best away team, with their records on the line.
After playing a pulsating 2-2 draw with Kumasi Asante Kotoko last week, league leaders Medeama SC return to their fortress, the TnA Stadium, to welcome Berekum Chelsea FC in a clash of former league winners. Medeama have struggled in recent times to hold their own against the ‘Bibires’, losing their last four games both home and away.
However, according to Head Coach of Medeama, Tanko Ibrahim, that sequence of results will come to an end tomorrow as they look to crawl out of the claws of their opponents with victory. Eleven points separate the sides, with Berekum Chelsea lying a distant 14th position on the log. They have been a pale shadow of themselves this season, and it remains to be seen if Coach Samuel Boadu’s side can keep the bragging rights over the Yellow and Mauves in what has been described as one of their worse starts to a league season.
Today, second-placed Kpando Heart of Lions will trek to the Kwame Kyei Sports Complex in Abrankese to play as guests of struggling Nations FC. Having suffered a 1-0 away loss to Basake Holy Stars in their last game, Nations FC would look to pick all three points to better their current 12th position.
In other games, the Hohoe Sports Stadium will come alive as new boys Hohoe United FC welcome Kumasi Asante Kotoko. The Nii Adjei Kraku II Sports Complex in Tema will host the Vision FC versus Young Apostles FC game, the Tuba Astro Turf will host the Dreams FC versus Bechem United FC clash, while the Nsenkyire Sports Arena will host the Samartex FC versus Bibiani Gold Stars game. High-riding Aduana FC will sort things out with Basake Holy Stars at the Nana Agyeman Badu I Park in Dormaa.
By Raymond Ackumey
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