Sports
Gianni Infantino, Kurt Simeon-Okraku hold historic meeting in Paris
In a massive boost for Ghana Football, FIFA President Gianni Infantino held a historic meeting with President Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku at the FIFA Offices in Paris, France.
This meeting was at the behest of the FIFA President who had invited President Simeon-Okraku to meet with him to discuss matters related to the development of the game both in Ghana and on the African continent.
The FIFA President gave President Simeon-Okraku a very warm welcome to the FIFA Offices in Paris, indicating how pleased he was to meet with the Ghana FA boss to share thoughts on how the game in Ghana was developing.
The meeting was held in a very positive spirit and the remarks shared by President Simeon-Okraku to reporters after the meeting pointed to the usefulness and progressive nature of the conversation he had with President Infantino.
President Simeon-Okraku, first thanked the FIFA President for the warm reception he had accorded him, going on to share a few key points on the synchronization of the vision of the FIFA President with that of the Ghana Football Association.
“First of all, I would want to say ‘thank you’ to the President [Gianni Infantino] for the invitation. We were here to speak about football on the global stage and, obviously, on the African continent, zooming in to Ghana. FIFA, led by the President, has been at the forefront of support for the development of football, especially in Africa,” he said.
He further added that, “And it was always important for us to engage and to know how far we are going, how well we are doing, and what we have to do to make it much, much, much better. I think that the President is very clear in what needs to be done. And as the President of a Federation, I’m also very clear on the vision of FIFA and, together, we are both sharing the same vision.”
President Kurt Edwin-Simeon Okraku then proceeded to paint a picture of the gains made by Ghana since he took over as President of the Ghana Football Association in 2019.
“I think that the Ghanaian game was at a low before 2019. Fast forward 2019, 2020 and now, and I think that we’ve made big inroads. Bringing all our competitions back. Bringing the desire and the passion of the people back. All our national teams are now competitive. We’ve gone ahead to also introduce more youth competitions, more youth national teams. Back to the (FIFA) World Cup in Qatar, after we lost out in 2018; our Black Queens, the female national team, are back in AFCON, after being away for a while. Our youth national teams are also on the rise again,” he noted.
According to him, “All our domestic competitions are back on track and are held in a timely manner. And so I think the outlook looks very good (for Ghana Football). What we have to do now, going forward, is to harness the potential and the positives that have come out of what we have done, and to make sure that we continue to improve on the work we are doing. But, at the moment, I would say we are on the rise again.”
President Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku in concluding his remarks, showered copious praise on FIFA for the awesome support that the world governing body for Football has given Ghana over the years, specifically acknowledging some key FIFA officials working out of the organization’s Senegal office.
He concluded, “First of all, I would say ‘thank you’ to FIFA the support via various schemes; through the FIFA Forward programme and the many other interventions that FIFA has introduced. Working with the office in Senegal with Gelson [Fernandes] and Solomon [Mudege] and the team, we are very clear on the support and necessary areas. I think that my Association has been very proactive in making sure that we continuously engage. I think that these levels of engagement, when they’re pushed a notch higher, will bring in more results. And this is what we are working on.”
This historic meeting is a shot in the arm for the President of the Ghana Football Association and for the entire Association as it provides fresh impetus for the work of President Simeon-Okraku and his Executive Council in their quest to lift Ghana Football to unprecedented heights.
Ghana Premier League side, Nations FC, may have suffered the drop in the just ended Premier League and are destined for a fresh campaign in the Division One League (DOL).
But they stand a huge chance of remaining in the elite stage of the game as they face Dreams FC in an epic MTN FA Cup final at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium tomorrow at 6pm.
Dreams FC have been there before; going ahead to taste the honours in the 2022-23 season after defeating King Faisal.
Coming from a season that saw them crawl from the initial stages of the league to finish on a respectable fourth position, they come in as strong favourites to double their honours in the nation’s second top football competition.
History favours them in this regard. On their first final, they conquered and based on this, connoisseurs of the game have tipped them to make it ‘two-on-two.’
But Nations FC have been empowered by the age-old adage that “He that is down need fear no fall.”
Nothing can be worse than suffering relegation and exiting the limelight as far as exposure is concerned.
But the FA offers a decent opportunity to make them stay relevant.
Conquering Dreams FC would not just make them MTN FA Cup champions. It will grant them the prestigious slot to represent Ghana in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) second tier club competition- the Confederations Cup.
With Dreams FC harbouring the same ambitions, the stage is, therefore, set for a final that promises to be explosive and uncompromising.
The situation of Nations FC might have come to many as a surprise, considering their promising start to the season, with their defence especially, marshalled by Black Stars defender, Razak Simpson, and colleague central defender, Raymond Grippman, earning a lot of reviews.
But despite the struggles they endured at certain times of their campaign, the MTN FA Cup always provided slices of good fortunes as they managed to navigate their way to the final.
Road to the top
Nations FC began the MTN FA Cup competition on a promising note, enjoying some good runs with a win over DOL Zone Two side, Ebony FC, in the Round of 64.
That landed them in a tricky encounter with another high-flying Zone Two candidate, AshantiGold SC, a side that eventually won the title from the zone to qualify to the Premier League, but escaped.
At the round of 16 stage, they encountered and defeated Ghana Premier League side, Swedru All Blacks, 2-1 to gain progression to the quarter final stage where they edged Berekum Chelsea on penalties.
A dicey semi-final awaited them against Aduana FC in Swedru. It was a game Nations was given little chance to escape considering Aduana FC’s form but once again, they conquered to secure a final berth.
In total, the Abrankese-based club have scored eight goals and conceded only two throughout the competition, making them one of the strongest defensive sides in the tournament.
For Dreams FC, they defeated Division One League Zone Three side, Semper Fi, 2-1 to progress to the next stage of the competition where they accounted for Division Two side, Asanska FC, 2-0.
That handed them a quarterfinal berth where they faced Inter Allies and drew one all before winning 4-3 on penalties.
The happiest moment in their success story was a 3-2 semi-final win over GPL winners, Medeama SC.
With that feat, Dreams have been touted as potential winners as the match comes at a time the Nations FC side may be psychologically down over the weight of the challenge they face in the next season.
However, the competition has gain notoriety for not following any form guide and outcomes mostly coming as major surprises.
In this regard, Dreams may be tipped as favourite candidates but though Nations are wounded, the stakes could revive an insatiable desire to apply the brakes to turn the dreams of Dreams FC into a nightmare.
Support
The support from MTN Ghana has no doubt improved competition among the clubs with the attractive incentive packages for participating clubs.
MTN Ghana, which is celebrating 30 years of operations in Ghana, formally became headline sponsors of the Ghana FA Cup in the 2010/2011 football season after the competition had returned from an eight-year hiatus.
The first edition under MTN sponsorship was won by Nania FC, who defeated Asante Kotoko 1–0 in the final at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Since then, the competition has been known as the MTN FA Cup, with MTN renewing its sponsorship several times — in 2013, 2017, 2020 and again for subsequent seasons.
By Andrew Nortey
The Black Stars have opened camp in Cardiff ahead of next week’s international friendly against Wales.
The team is being taken through training drills by head coach Carlos Queiroz.
Thirteen players trained at Dragon Park on Monday, with others expected to join the squad on Tuesday.
They include Ernest Nuamah, Brandon Thomas-Asante, Jordan Ayew, Caleb Yirenkyi, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, Elisha Owusu, Gideon Mensah, Marvin Senaya, Jerome Opoku, Benjamin Asare, Joseph Anang, Solomon Agbasi, and Alidu Seidu.
The Black Stars will train in Cardiff for one week ahead of the international friendly against Wales on Tuesday, June 2, before traveling to the United States of America.
Coach Carlos Queiroz will use the period to assess his players before naming his final squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Twenty-six players will be submitted to FIFA on Monday, June 1, as mandated by the competition regulations.
The Black Stars are drawn in Group L with Panama, England, and Croatia. They will open their World Cup campaign against Panama on June 17 in Toronto before facing England and Croatia in their other group matches.
