Sports
Keep AGOSU flame burning
STORIES about Accra Great Olympics—once a formidable football club in the Greater Accra Region and second only to their city rivals, Accra Hearts of Oak—no longer command interest from fans. Narratives about the club are now presented as mockeries or sarcasms, rather than any serious agenda like aiming to win the Ghana Premier League (GPL), the FA Cup or even qualify to any of the CAF Clubs championship.
With accolades, Olympics will occupy the top spot without struggle. Interesting jargons are coined easily and aligned with the club and it is embraced by all.
“Olympics can fall 10 times but will rise up the same number of times. Olympics supporters represent hope and longsuffering. Despite the many disappointments, supporters of the club have the hope that one day, the team would rise up. This is what has kept the club going.”
Rev Dr Odonkor was on point on the Olympics situation which managers of the team appear to have no clue as to how to rescue it. But in his view, there’s still hope for the club. Matches are played in virtually empty stadiums.
But according to Rev Dr Odonkor, giving up on Olympics must not be an option. Questions however, on the lips of many is how long fans can continue to endure the hardship as things deteriorate with time.
Just a day after the sermon encouraging followers to remain hopeful, the worst happened as two big wigs of the club, Mr. Kudjoe Fianoo, an experienced football administrator, and Richard Alagidede resigned from their roles as Chief Executive and General Manager, respectively. The action of the two has not surprised majority of their followers—knowing their calibre, what they stand for and a perceived structural defect of the club.
Such is the unfortunate situation of Ghana’s Wonder Club. Weeks in and out, the club’s fans sit on tenterhooks for 90 minutes watching the team struggle to avoid relegation from the second tier of Ghana football—Division One League. On a league table of clubs, in all of these, the fans of the club bear the taunts of opposing supporters. One dares not wear an Olympics replica jersey and you become an instant hero for displaying courage.
The Olympics situation has even become a subject of study as was witnessed at the Osu Eben-Ezer Presbyterian Church last Sunday, where the district minister in charge, Rev Dr. Odonkor, expertly captured the Olympics story in a sermon titled ‘The AGOSU PHILOSOPHY.’
In the sermon to mark his induction as District Minister, Rev Dr Odonkor, a staunch Olympics fan, described the club as a ‘reservoir of hope’ and the supporters as longsuffering—a narrative with accolades, Olympics will occupy the top spot without struggle.
The problem of the Wonder Club has been with finance, making it extremely difficult to sign high-profile players whose influence can affect the club’s fortunes. Saddest of all, the club has lost its appeal to both fans and players as matches are played in virtually empty stadiums. Therefore, there must be no turning back. This is certainly the time for all and sundry to join forces to rescue the club that is known as the ‘Landlords.’
In this difficult time, board and management must take a second look at its structure and mend the parts that are broken. As the men in the boardroom, they know and understand the problems facing the club. Currently, the failure of the club is at their doorstep and if Olympics sunk further, they would go down in history as those that extinguished the flame on the ‘Dade’ touch. If it means getting new people with fresh ideas, then so be it.
By Andrew Nortey
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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.
