Sports
Disqualified – Part 5
The driver stopped the vehicle at the gate of the big fenced property along the Nsawam Highway, and Kakraba stepped out to meet the several workers who had gathered to wait for him. He greeted them and went to straight to the point. ‘Gentlemen, I am glad to see that you have almost completed the clearing of the land. I’m happy to report that we have concluded all arrangements with Nana Serebour, and construction of the palace will start in a few days.
I will need you to go and level the ground, and come back to start this project. Some workers from a construction company will come and join us to start the project. My plan is to build twenty houses in four months, then we will do twenty more until we reach two hundred.
I am relying on you to help me deliver good quality work to satisfy our clients, and as I have already indicated to you, I will reward you for your work’. After an hour’s discussion, he closed the meeting and moved to drive away. Wofa Yaw drew closer.
‘Director, can you please spare me five minutes? I would like to discuss a small issue’. ‘Why Wofa Yaw, your wife has threatened to leave you?’ ‘No, Director’. My wife will never leave me. This concerns a young niece of mine’.
‘I hope it’s something I can help with. Please sit in the car and let me hear you’. ‘Boss, my niece Beesiwa is a polytechnic graduate, very beautiful and with very good character.
Unfortunately, her parents virtually forced her into a relationship with an idiot based in the US, which impacted her badly. She has now recovered from that experience, and boss, I am respectfully asking if you would find a job for her.
I promise you that you will never regret it’. ‘Well, Wofa Yaw, let me meet her and speak with her. I may be able to help, maybe not in the way you will expect, but let me meet her. I will not be back here till after a week, but I will be at the office the whole of next week. You can come with her’.
‘On Monday morning, Wofa Yaw and Beesiwa were seated at the office by nine. Three young ladies welcomed them warmly, offered them soft drinks, and assured them that Kakraba would be there shortly, and got seated behind computers with large screens showing various building designs. Kakraba walked in and greeted them warmly, and after chatting with the three ladies, he ushered Wofa Yaw to his office’. ‘Director, this is my niece, Beesiwa. I mentioned her to you when you came to Nsawam’. ‘Yes indeed. Madam Beesiwa, you are very beautiful, as your uncle said. Wofa Yaw is my colleague.
We have just started a building project that will take about three to four years. He mentioned that you have a very small problem, so I said I would like to meet you, and see how I can help. So Beesiwa, please tell me a little about yourself’.
Beesiwa described her childhood, her school experience, her brief work at the bank, and the nasty episode with Sammy Abrokwa which shattered her peaceful life, and how she had been recovering’.
‘I am really sorry to hear this. Now, here is what we are going to do. We are a small but very busy company. The three ladies over there spend most of the day on site, and come back to report on their work in the morning.
I have three main projects. The big one is an estate project in Nsawam, where your uncle is one of my main colleagues. I need a personal assistant who can take care of my activities, especially when I am not in town.
Now, we will have to start with trust. Based on what I know about Wofa Yaw, and based on what you yourself have told me, I think we can start on a sound basis. So, Wofa Yaw will take you to my home. You can move into one of the four guest rooms. I will give you a good phone and a laptop. I will arrange computer lessons for you’. ‘Sir, I have taken some computer lessons, and I have even done graphics and web design’. ‘Fantastic! Now, Wofa Yaw, take her home. My sister Kuukuwa will meet you and show you round, and you can return to Koforidua. When would you like to start work?’ ‘Sir, I would like to start today, but I would need to go and bring my things’. ‘No problem. Take a taxi to my house, meet my sister, and let me know what you decide’.
Kakraba and the three ladies met with some bank officials to conclude on the sale of the three buildings at Adabraka.
They closed at five-thirty, and after rewarding the ladies for their hard work, he got home just after dark. He was surprised to find Kuukuwa and Beesiwa sitting at table enjoying supper. ‘What’s happening here?’ her said. ‘Beesiwa, I thought you would return to Koforidua?’ ‘She changed her mind’, Kuukuwa said. ‘We went to the Mall and bought a few things for her, and we came back to cook. She has made some nice changes to your bedroom. And she cooked a couple of interesting things. Sit down, we will serve you’.
‘Well, I certainly can’t refuse that. It’s been a busy day. So what’s the plan now? Will Beesiwa go to Koforidua tomorrow, gather her stuff together and come down? ‘No, I will stay here for a while. Kuukuwa bought me things that I need, so I may go back next week. I’m ready to start work. What would you like me to start with?’
‘Well, you can come to the office tomorrow morning, meet the three girls and get a feel of what we do. Since you are living here, at least for now, we can discuss the plans for the next few weeks. Sometimes there are gaps when I travel up north. You can take care of things from now. I think the girls would like having someone like you around’.
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The national U-17 female team, the Black Maidens, have arrived in Rabat from their pre-camp base in Casablanca to begin their campaign at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
The team will open their Group C fixtures against Norway on Sunday, October 18, at the Mohammed VI Football Complex. They will then face Brazil on Thursday, October 22, before wrapping up the group stage against Canada on Saturday, October 24.
During their two-week training camp in Casablanca, the technical team tested the squad’s readiness with two international friendlies against China and Kenya.
The Black Maidens are returning to the global showpiece after missing the last edition, aiming to build on a proud record that includes a bronze medal in 2012 and three quarter-final appearances.
The team is expected to hold its first training session in Rabat on Wednesday as it puts finishing touches to preparations for the opener against Norway.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
IN modern football, the final whistle doesn’t signal the end of the show; it signals the intermission.
The Top five European Leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue 1) have mastered a brutal truth of the digital age: you don’t just sell the match; you sell the marathon.
By weaponising transfer window tension, season reviews, and microscopic highlight reels, they’ve turned 90 minutes of sport into a 24/7/365 content vortex.
Meanwhile, back home, the Ghana Premier League (GPL) is haemorrhaging relevance not because the talent isn’t there but because the storytelling is dead.
The Football Association’s apathy is only rivalled by its hypocrisy.
The European Blueprint: Selling the ‘Appetite’
Why do fans tune into a random mid-table La Liga clash on a Friday night? Because they’ve been primed. Across the summer, broadcasters and clubs drip-feed ‘transfer sagas’ like high-stakes soap operas.
Will the star leave? Who is the mystery medical? This tension creates a parasocial investment that transcends the pitch.
Paired with this are season-review documentaries and hyper-curated game highlights tailored for TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. These aren’t just goal clips; they are tactical breakdowns, sideline theatrics, and VAR controversies packaged into digestible and emotional bites.
This strategy has inflated broadcasting rights to astronomical sums (the Premier League’s recent domestic deal hit £6.7 billion).
They know that if you feed the audience year-round, they will binge-watch when it matters.
The GPL Vacuum: No Sponsor, No Story
Now, overlay this blueprint onto the Ghana Premier League. It is a stark, barren contrast.
The league is poorly run, lacking a headline sponsor to give it financial muscle or marketing prestige. Without that corporate backing, the media machine grinds to a halt.
The transfer market, which should be the peak of offseason intrigue, is a ghost town. We hear about signings, but the transfer fee is universally undisclosed.” We only get the contract length.
This kills the narrative. In Europe, a €100 million move generates weeks of debate; in Ghana, a move generates a one-line social media post, devoid of gravity. Fans cannot gauge ambition, nor can they measure a club’s financial muscle.
Most damningly, there are no reviews from the broadcasting rights holders. No glossy season-compilation DVDs. No weekly magazine shows dissecting past campaigns to build hype for the next.
The Broadcasting Right Holders (BRHs) treat the GPL as an obligation to air live, not as an IP to monetize through content. The league goes dormant the moment the trophy is lifted.
And the FA? They seem unconcerned. There is no strategic blue • A scene from the Ghana Premier League print to pump these ‘stuffs’ into the digital ecosystem. They treat the league’s media output like an afterthought, ignoring that a lack of online noise equals a lack of bums on seats.
The Black Stars Paradox: The Hypocrisy of Production
Here is the crushing irony that exposes the FA’s priorities. When the Black Stars assemble for a World Cup qualifier or an AFCON match, the narrative flips overnight.
Suddenly, the budget for proper camera operators and videographers appears from thin air. We get cinematic drone shots, multi-angle slow-motion replays, tunnel cams, and emotional post-match interviews.
Every moment, every tackle, every save, every passionate fan in the stands is captured in vivid, broadcast-ready quality. The national team gets the full ‘European treatment.’
This reveals a devastating double standard. The FA treats the Black Stars as the sole marketable asset, forgetting that the GPL is the engine room that produces these stars.
By diverting all production value to the national team while starving the domestic league of visual prestige, they are cannibalizing their own foundation.
The Verdict
You cannot build a football culture on national team fixtures alone.
Europe thrives because they understand that content is the currency of fandom.
Until the Ghana FA secures a headline sponsor, enforces transparent transfer disclosures (to fuel debate), and mandates that broadcasting partners produce engaging season reviews and highlight packages, the GPL will remain a hidden gem rather than a sparkling crown.
The players are there. The passion is there. But if the FA continues to save its best camera angles for the Black Stars while leaving the Premier League in the dark, they aren’t just failing the clubs; they are starving the very appetite they desperately need to feed
By Leslie Agyemang
