Sports
Do not spare anybody, GFA!
An unidentified person in Germany was reported to have called players of Ghana Premier League side, Elmina Sharks, to throw one of their league fixtures for a $5,000 reward.
This was disclosed to the media by the Deputy General Manager of Elmina Sharks, Aboagye Yeboah, who said he reported the matter to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) but no action was taken.
Sharks themselves are being accused of playing a match-of-convenience against Asante Kotoko to escape the drop on the final day of action. They denied the offence.
But clearly, it tells you how bad the situation is already; and the GFA is all-too aware of how disparaging things could be – and have responded to calls for a probe into the match-day 34 fixture played between Ashanti Gold SC and Inter Allies FC at the Len Clay stadium at Obuasi on Saturday, July 17, 2021.
The two teams have been accused of playing a fixed game after viral social media footage showed what looked like two deliberate own goals scored by Inter Allies defender Hashmin Musah in the 7-0 win for home side AshGold.
In that game, Musah came from the bench and bundled the ball into his own net within 12 minutes and substituted himself just before full-time. It was like saying ‘I have completed my mission so I can now go off the pitch peacefully.’
True to his flimsy defence, Musah claimed rumours were rife ahead of the game that the afternoon had been compromised with scores of 5-0 flying everywhere. His mission in the game was therefore to “spoil the bet.”
But eliciting information that a game is fixed – even when that is the case, does not warrant that negative act which, obviously, brought the game into huge disrepute.
Could it not be possible that he placed a bet on himself, or rather a bet was placed on him to score two own goals? Could it also not be a kind of cover up to do his own thing? Where is the spirit of Fair Play in competitive football when you deliberately score own goals?
Seriously speaking, Hashim is as duplicitous as all those who participated in the match and others outside it. But of course, we need painstaking investigation to get to the bottom of the case and the appropriate sanctions enforced – no matter who is caught in the web.
There are people who believe Hashim should rather be applauded and awarded; limpidly demonstrating that there a deeper lack of understanding of the issue at stake.
Perhaps, if the Inter Allies’ defender was amply educated about match fixing, he and his team would have promptly reported the matter to the GFA, who may have cancelled the match and immediately invite the police to open up an investigation.
Well, this is one aspect – education – that the GFA should be taking a closer look at when they are done with the case before them.
It is limpidly clear now that the betting syndicates have invaded our games and we better nip them in the bud now before our leagues slip into a nadir of international shame and embarrassment.
Former GFA Communications Director, Sannie Daara, could not have put it better.
“The betting syndicates are the real threat to the game because they arrange to compromise the matches so they can win against betting companies. The betting companies are the ones that can bring benefit and legal money to clubs and the league like it does for the EPL, La Liga and all the major competitions of the world.
“The syndicates in our case might include club owners, players, coaches, referees and their rogue agents who are mostly abroad. Armed with the pre-arranged result they visit websites of betting companies abroad to place huge bets to win big. And they use their funds to bribe their surrogates locally to further compromise future matches,” he said.
Indeed, it is true that such combined activities trickle down to the country when many get hold of fixed results to invade the betting companies in Ghana and win millions too.
It is against this saturnine backdrop that the GFA must be commended for collaborating with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to initiate a snake-pit inquisition into the matter – especially as regards the Inter Allies v AshantiGold game, in order to bring the perpetrators to book.
Truth is that, if we do not take draconian measures now we will witness this same sordid deed again next season. That is why we must not spare anybody caught up in the mesh. Our game must be cleansed!
PlainTalk with JOHN VIGAH
Sports
GoldStars GPL feat no fluke
No prophet in Ghana would have been taken serious with prophesies of Bibiani GoldStars becoming the new champions of the 2024/25 Ghana Premier League (GPL).
That is not to take anything away from Coach Frimpong Manso, an Asante Kotoko legend, and his boys for the yeoman’s job they did in the just ended season.
They deserve every bit of the plaudits coming from well-wishers.
They came, they saw and conquered on their fourth year (2021/2022 season) in the elite stage of Ghana football.
Of course, this can only be a reality in the end but not a sound prediction at the start of the season.
But, so has it been. Stories like that of GoldStars sharply brings to mind a similar fairytale orchestrated in the advanced English Premier League (GPL) with the 2015/16 edition.
In the face of the Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool dominance, Leicester emerged with a bang, conquering every hurdle in sight with unsung heroes like Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi, Shinji Okazaki, Leonardo Ulloa, Danny Drinkwater, Robert Huth, Riyad Mahrez and others.
There was no indication of that sort at the start of the season.
As usual, the focus was on the aforementioned heavyweights but Leicester took the competition by storm to record a historic win.
Back home, the GoldStars story is not different. Despite the recent struggles by perennial favourites, Accra Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko, the two have always found their ways in fans prediction regarding the side to emerge winners.
Interestingly, both sides just managed to end up in the top four after Nations FC’s decision to abandon a game against Basake Holy Stars who cost them dearly, in the end, forfeiting the said game and going ahead to suffer a further three points deduction penalty.
Nations FC were actually the top favourites for the title until that ill-fated match against Basake Holy Stars.
Campaigning for the second year in the competition, very few followers of the game gave the Timber giants any chance.
But in the same ‘Rambo’ style, teams like Medeama SC and Aduana Stars descended on the GPL, GoldStars emerged with all guns blazing, strategically employing a tactic of making the Dun’s Park in Bibiani, a waterloo for visiting teams.
On a few occasions, they sprung surprises on the journey, recording a few upsets against gullible teams including Hearts of Oak in Accra.
They had a promising coach like Frimpong Manso who is yet to establish himself among the elites local coaches maybe because he is yet to work with any of the established club sides in the country.
But winning the local competition with a less endowed club makes you a legend, and truly, he has become one.
To management and other members of the technical team, one could only congratulate them for a job well executed.
The players have a huge role to play in proving that the feat was no fluke and that GoldStars has come to stay; and would continue to make an impact in the local game.
Much is not known about these players except Vincent Atinga who plied his trade with Hearts of Oak and Medeama SC. Others like Samuel Attah Kumi, Frank Amankwah, Kelvin Oppong, Charles Gyamfi Kamara, Abdul Farouk Amoaful, Gideon Anaba, Samuel Acheampong, Foster Agyei and Yakubu Haqq remain emerging talents aiming to carve a niche for themselves.
Definitely with the new challenge, some areas of the team would be strengthened as they face the finest sides on the continent.
Another season with a new champion should also serve as a wake-up call for the likes of Hearts or Oak and Asante Kotoko to quickly return to their glory days lest they lose their enviable place among the football elite clubs. Well-done GoldStars.
By Andrew Nortey
Sports
Golden Kick, a tricky obstacle for Kotoko in MTN FA Cup final tomorrow
The University of Ghana Stadium will come alive tomorrow when Ghanaian giants, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, take on lower tier side, Golden Kicks FC, in a thrilling climax to the 2024/25 MTN FA Cup final tomorrow at exactly 5pm.
The much anticipated game, which is more than just a battle for silverware but a meeting of tradition and ambition for both teams, is expected to draw thousands of football fanatics across the country to the Legon stadium for what promises to be a dramatic and tricky finale to this season’s domestic cup competition.
After an unsuccessful season in the Ghana Premier League which saw the Reds miss out on the title to Bibiani GoldStars, the Porcupine Warriors will be desperate to finish the season on a high by clinching the title to secure a place in the next CAF interclub competition.
The Reds have a rich history in the FA Cup competition having won it nine times and will be eyeing their 10th title to stamp their authority as the overall best.
Before reaching this stage, Asante Kotoko eliminated formidable opponents like True Democracy, Sekondi Eleven Wise and Berekum Chelsea in the semi-final.
The availability of players like Justice Blay, Kwame Opoku, Frederick Asare, Peter Amidu Acquah and striker Albert Amoah, among other notable players will be a big boost to Coach Karim Zito’s side.
Meanwhile, the task will not be an easy one for Kotoko looking at the way their opponents reached the final with wins over Accra Hearts of Oak and Bechem United before climaxing it with Attram d’ Visser.
Coached by young and tactical Fiifi Parker Hanson, Golden Kicks have a combined youthful team with tactical discipline to punch well above their weight and relish the opportunity to shock the giants once more on a bigger stage.
This final is more than just a contest between Premier League royalty and a hungry underdog but rather a tale of two contrasting football identities. Kotoko brings the weight of tradition, experience, legacy and pressure while Golden Kicks arrive with nothing to lose and everything to prove which makes the game a promised one, full of thrills and fireworks.
By Enoch Ntiamoah
