Sports
Ease, but with caution
The easing of restrictions over the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may be coming to many as pleasant news, especially for the 15 non-contact sports disciplines but obviously not for the others; football, chiefly.
Tension and anxiety preceded Sunday’s announcement of the restriction review by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as individuals and organizations waited for the next move as people get fed up with days, weeks and months of inactivity.
Of the ‘hottest’ breed of athletes yearning to know their fate was footballers and their ‘football people’ who are the worse hit by the pandemic as far as the diseases’ impact on sports was concerned.
But football, an epitome of a team event, was ‘swerved’ and has to wait until June 31 when the current restriction expires.
Sadly or otherwise, a few, branded as non-contact sports, notably athletics, badminton, golf, table tennis, tennis, power lifting, weight lifting, cycling, draughts, para sports (individual non contact para sport), rowing and canoeing, baseball and soft ball, horse racing, squash as well as swimming, got the nod.
A few concerns have, however, been expressed over some of the disciplines labeled as non-contact sports because of their nature, especially with golf and tennis but with a strict adherence of the safety protocols, those concerns can be addressed.
But can the ‘football people’ make any case for themselves considering the challenges and logistical issues they are likely to face?
The response will surely be unenthusiastic and very unconstructive considering their financial plight and would prefer to wait.
Obviously, a typical football game to be played behind closed-doors but aired on television could require close to 100 or more people in the stadium made up of players, technical and management team members of both teams, a few media persons, ball boys, television crew, match officials and other match day staff.
These persons must have undergone mandatory testing to ensure that no infected person gets to the arena while also ensuring that every protocol was observed to the latter.
Sometimes, it seem very simple but figures from the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) as well as the National Sports Authority (NSA) bring to the fore the heavy toll it will have on the clubs financially.
Clearly, it explains why Alhaji Karim Gruzah and his King Faisal side plus a few of the bottom clubs will be the first to commend government for the decision not to restart football now and ultimately call for the cancellation of the season.
Obviously, an annulment can save their season as they are threatened by relegation.
Yet, the reality of recording almost nothing from the gates but have to spend so much on protocols for a single game makes their claims very indisputable.
Heartily, the call to restart now or not has been a debate among the ‘football people’, sending a clear signal that the decision was for the good of all.
Of course the German Bundesliga has started and within a fortnight, about four games have been cleared.
In another two weeks, the La Liga and English Premier League (EPL) will also be restarted.
Instead of waiting for the June 31 deadline, the FA and stakeholders could be finding ways on how to go about their season when the restriction was partially eased for them.
A fine idea will be to liaise with health authorities to begin mass testing for Premier League and by extension Division One League (DOL) players, referees and their assistants, technical and management team members etc from the second or third week of the month.
In this case, teams can start training few days after the restrictions have been eased for football, otherwise the FA must listen to Aduana Stars skipper Yahaya Mohammed’s call to cancel the season and start afresh in August to synchronise with the European calendar.
By Andrew Nortey
The curtains would be drawn on the Ghana Premier League tomorrow, with four teams locked in a fierce battle to avoid relegation.
Nations FC, Young Apostles, Swedru All Blacks, and Basake Holy Stars would hope to avoid joining Eleven Wonders and Hohoe United, who have already been relegated.
Nations FC must be at their absolute best to secure all three points against Karela United at the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium, while hoping results elsewhere go in their favour.
After suffering a blow last week with a home loss to Vision FC, Coach Stephen Frimpong Manso, who won the league last season with Bibiani Gold Stars, will be desperate to guide Nations to safety.
However, the task is daunting given Karela’s home form; they have lost only one game at the venue this season.
Another battlefield will be the Baba Yara Stadium, where Swedru All Blacks, would need to beat Asante Kotoko to survive.
For Kotoko’s interim coach, Hamza Obeng, signing off a troubled season with a win would offer some comfort to the ‘Porcupine faithful,’ who have been calling for a new direction for the club.
At the Wenchi Sports Stadium, it is a day of destiny for Young Apostles, who need nothing short of a win against Samartex FC to survive.
Meanwhile, Basake Holy Stars must secure all three points against Dreams FC at the Ampain AAK II Sports Arena to avoid any head-to-head complications that may arise later.
Elsewhere, defending champions Bibiani Gold Stars remain at home at Dun’s Park to welcome already relegated Eleven Wonders.
In other fixtures, Vision FC welcomes Aduana FC to the Nii Adjei Kraku II Sports Complex in Tema, and Berekum Chelsea faces Bechem United FC at Golden City Park. Finally, the Accra Sports Stadium will host newly crowned champions Medeama SC as they visit Accra Hearts of Oak.
BY RAYMOND ACKUMEY
Across the sports world, hosting a tournament or championship has become inseparable from the expectation of absolute victory.
Breaking this down, hosting a major sports tournament comes with a very clear mandate: that is to ‘host and win.’
To ‘host and win’ means a country must successfully organise the championship and climax it by emerging winners.
The concept carries specific cultural weight and comes with different interpretation depending on the context.
In major continental or global events, it refers to the phenomenon where the host nation uses home-ground advantage, local fan support, and familiarity with the climate and facilities to lift the trophy.
A few countries have been able to achieve this in the past but generally, winning a major championship just because one is a home country is incredibly difficult.
This is the reason why Ghana’s failure to win the 24th Africa Seniors Athletics Championship staged in Accra would be pardoned.
It will be preposterous, in fact laughable, for any athletics follower to have such expectation for Team Ghana considering the quality of opposition at the championship.
But one aspect of the ‘host and win’ concept Ghana Athletics and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the championship did not impress was organization at a certain point.
Coming few days after the World Relays championship in Botswana which was excellently staged, expectation was high about Ghana’s ability to also showcase a world class show.
That expectation was also fuelled by the fact that infrastructure was not a problem as Ghana hosted a successful athletics event just about three years ago- the Accra 2023 Africa Games at the same venue.
But it started on a negative note, with complains over food, equipment and other issues flying all over with bloggers making huge capital out of it.
Gladly, Ghana’s Minister for Sports and Recreation, Mr Kofi Adams shed some light on the organization of the event which he said had received wide commendation from many of the participating countries.
According to him, the feedback from some of the countries that have attended previous events suggests that the Accra edition was the best.
The minister explained that Ghana met all organizational protocols since beating Botswana to the bid two years ago and also went on to clarify that some of the reported challenges occurred because only 11 of the 49 participating countries completed the accreditation processes within the spelt out timeline.
Personally, I agree with the sports minister to a large extent. Events of this magnitude often comes with challenges but a country/LOC’s ability to address them go a long way to show a certain level of commitment to stage a great show.
Maybe, what event or sports organisers must take cognizance of at such events is the growing trend of the lack of proper arrangement for the media to carry out their duties.
It was heartbreaking to see journalists, expected to cover the opening of the event, hover around the peripherals just because their space was occupied by the fans.
This is a growing phenomenon across events of late. This is another major concern officialdom must give attention to but for Ghana Athletics, it was a great opportunity to learn to avoid repeats in future.
By Andrew Nortey
