Sports
FA urged to halt football season
Coach of Women’s Premier League (WPL) side, Northern Ladies, Sumani Bashirudeen, has advocated for the cancellation of the football season in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, citing the lack of sponsorship and preparedness to return as the basis for his call.
“Coach Bash” as he is affectionately known, urged the FA and stakeholders to rather turn their focus on using the period to embark on a massive sponsorship drive to improve the various leagues.
“We have no sponsors for the league and yet we are clamouring for a return, fully aware of the financial strain we have to bear; I think this is misplaced. I would rather urge the FA to cancel the league and turn a laser-focus to getting sponsors to repackage the league to become financially attractive.
“Because the truth is whatever financial injection we are aiming for will most likely not be enough.”
He also expressed concern about the grave challenge coaches would be confronted with working with limited infrastructure should the green light be given for a resumption.
“Should the league resume, as coaches, we are going to have serious issues because we don’t have the structures like the Europeans do. We don’t have good training facilities and the prospect of testing everyone seems far-fetched. The FA should cancel the season and plan well for next season.”
Coach Bash highlighted how devastating COVID-19 has been on the women’s game and player’s development.
“Training the men is different from the women, when you train the men they adapt faster than the women.
“A lot of them are in the early stages of their development and therefore a four month break due to COVID-19 means that we have to take them back to cover previous areas which will delay their learning. Personally, I gave my team some personal training routine to guide their individual training but the women need special attention and so our programme for them has been greatly affected. Apart from the technical difficulties we are also bleeding financially since we camped most of the girls.”
His statements ties in with comments from WPL committee chairperson, Hillary Boaten who asserted that the female clubs were in deep financial crisis in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the lack of football activities was driving most of the ladies into promiscuous lifestyles.
Source: Ghanaian Times
Ashantigold SC has terminated the contracts of three members of its technical team with immediate effect.
The affected officials are head coach and technical director Abdul Karim Zito, assistant coach Ernest Okyere, and goalkeepers’ trainer Robert Dabo.
The decision was announced in a statement signed by the club’s Chief Executive Officer, Edward Kwasi Akuoko.
According to the statement, the decision was taken following a consultative meeting by the Interim Management Committee on Monday, October 26, 2026.
The club says a caretaker coach has been appointed to steer the affairs of the team until a substantive coach/technical director is appointed.
Management expressed gratitude to the affected officials for their contribution and service to the team and wished them well in their future endeavours.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
England captain Harry Kane says it was extra special to be presented with the Ballon d’Or by one of his childhood idols.
Kane made the comment after receiving the prestigious award from former Brazilian striker Ronaldo Nazario.
“Ronaldo was one of my idols growing up,” Kane said.
The Bayern Munich striker described the moment as surreal, being honoured by a player he looked up to as a young footballer.
Kane was announced as the 2026 Ballon d’Or winner on Monday, October 26, at the London Palladium, marking the 70th anniversary of the award and the first time the ceremony was held outside France.
The 33-year-old beat stiff competition from second-placed Kylian Mbappe and Barcelona youngster Lamine Yamal to win his first ever Ballon d’Or.
He becomes the first Englishman to win the coveted individual award in 25 years since Michael Owen in 2001, and only the fifth Englishman ever after Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Owen.
He is also the first Bayern Munich player to win the award since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.
Kane won the award after a remarkable season in which he scored 61 goals in 51 club matches, the most a Bayern player has ever scored in one campaign.
Including England matches, it was 73 goals plus eight assists in 65 matches. His 73 goals is the second-highest single-season total ever behind Lionel Messi’s 82 in 2011-12.
Despite the goal haul, Kane did not win the Champions League or World Cup, with Bayern losing 6-5 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-finals and England losing 2-1 to Argentina in the World Cup semi-final before finishing third.
The award was presented by Brazilian great Ronaldo Nazario, a two-time Ballon d’Or winner himself, adding what was described as a special dimension to Kane’s historic achievement.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
