Sports
Planned action for Los Angeles 2028
Rose Yeboah would need the support of the state to improve her performance ahead of Los Angeles 2028
Three weeks of impressive, outstanding and record-breaking performances came to an end on Sunday when the curtain on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was lowered.
It started beautifully with a historic opening ceremony held outside of a stadium; with the river Seine in Paris becoming a major tourist site as hundreds of athletes and officials put up spectacular displays on it to open the ceremony.
However, the controversy over LGBTQ+ and religious issues that followed the scripting or concept for the ceremony can also not be ignored.
The show on Sunday was equally electrifying as it featured the best from sports, music and entertainment sectors to give athletes and fans a perfect giveaways.
There were a few hitches, though. For instance, the men’s triathlon event was delayed for a day following concerns over the quality of water in the Seine River.
Officials postponed the event to improve the swimming portions of the river.
But generally, it will go into the annals of the event as one of the best managed games.
The United States of America once again proved their mettle in sports – not football, total sports, winning 126 medals.
The closest was China with 91 and the Great Britain winning a total of 65.
Definitely, every sports fan would be proud of sports administrators in such regions.
Back home, the Ghanaian contingent of two swimmers on Wild Cards, sprinters and high jumper, Rose Amoaniwaa Yeboah, accompanied by officials have returned and fellow Ghanaians are still proud of them, despite coming home empty-handed.
They cannot be blamed all the time. They competed under difficult circumstances. They were ill-motivated.
Having usually lambasted both athletes and officialdom in the past depending on where the heartbreak will come from, it is important to shift the focus a bit to take a holistic look as Africa as a continent to identify its strengths and weaknesses.
Africa won 39 medals overall made up of 13 gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze medals spread across 12 nations.
Kenya recorded the highest number of 11.
Comparatively, that marks an increase of two medals at the Tokyo 2020 games (held in 2021 due to COVID-19 outbreak) held in Japan but below the 45 recorded in Rio 2016.
That raises serious concerns about the direction for sports in Africa. Countries are spending huge sums to develop or build formidable teams to be at the top but it is not so in Africa.
What is available is also not spread evenly as the chunk of the sports budgets are spent on football, sometimes to the detriment of the other sports.
Surely, with this approach, Africa will keep playing second fiddle to the other nations.
But Africa’s problem with sports is actually bigger than what the eye can see and instead of tackling it head on, officials play around them, raising the hopes of her people.
Apart from the issue of finance, African states also face a huge challenge with infrastructure and many other factors that makes it difficult to raise world class athletes or competitors at home.
A piece on the BBC website on the performances of African nations is quite revealing and shocking, and even scary if a Ghanaian dreams about seeing a fellow Ghanaian mount the Olympic podium to receive a gold medal.
According to the report, the team that represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland, for example, was awarded just over £245m ($313m) for the Paris Olympic cycle.
This may sound like a dream.
The United States, meanwhile, boasts world-class facilities, a college system providing a pipeline of top-level talent in individual and team sports and huge sponsorship deals.
Egypt is the only African country dreaming about closing that huge gap by spending billions of dollars building sports complexes, partly with a view to bid to host the Olympics in 2036 or 2040.
May be, the shortest route to an African challenge is to start planning at a certain level to accept that the continent is lagging behind and instead of practicing mass sports at this level, countries should consider events with competitive advantages.
Botswana won its second successive medal in the men’s 4x400m relay in Paris – with South Africa and Zambia also in that final – and 200m champion LetsileTebogo secured the country’s first ever gold.
Countries that are good in boxing, long distances, the jumps and others must rather focused on investing heavily in them to raise the athletes needed to make the continent proud.
But that could also put the continent in the dark regarding the field and indoor event but no matter the plan of action, it must be one that will put the continent in the limelight.
But a few medals in those with competitive advantages could make a better case than presenting hundreds of half-baked athletes to disappoint.
The countdown for Los Angeles 2028 begun the moment the Games flag was handed over to officials from the popular US state and Ghana, just like other countries, may have less than a week short of four years to prepare.
By Andrew Nortey
Attention will be at the Golden City Park in Berekum tomorrow as Hearts of Oak lock horns with Berekum Chelsea FC in a Ghana Premier League Matchday 6 game that promises an electrifying atmosphere.
Lying sixth on the league table with two wins and three draws, the Phobians visit a ground that has been favourable to them in recent times. In their last three visits to the Golden City Park, Hearts have amassed seven out of nine points, putting them in strong contention to win.
Head Coach Mas-Ud Didi Dramani says, “The team is making progress in its tactical identity despite the lack of goals, and this is something we are working on ahead of this game.”
Hearts will come face-to-face with former coach Samuel Boadu, whose side lies a distant 13th on the league table with a win and a draw from four games. Coach Boadu is yet to celebrate a victory over the Phobians since joining the Berekum lads and would hope this fixture marks a turnaround.
Ninth-placed Vision FC would trek to the Nana Fosu Gyeabour Park in Bechem to play Bechem United, while new boys Hohoe United host Aduana FC at the Hohoe Sports Stadium.
Returnees Swedru All Blacks will welcome Basake Holy Stars to the Swedru Sports Stadium, with defending league champions Bibiani Gold Stars staying put at their backyard, the Dun’s Park, to welcome second-placed Heart of Lions FC on Monday.
Today at the TnA Stadium in Tarkwa, Medeama SC will clash with Samartex FC in a Western derby. Other games scheduled for today would see Eleven Wonders FC host Karela United at the Swedru Sports Stadium, while Dreams FC face Nations FC at the Tuba Astro Turf.
By Raymond Ackumey
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Ghana coach Otto Addo may not command the kind of fear and respect like Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Luis Enrique and others in the modern game, but in his small corner, he is gradually climbing the ladder to greatness in Ghana, Africa and the world at large.
The aforementioned coaches attained greatness with club sides and, therefore, open an argument over whether one is not comparing apples to oranges. But no matter how one looks at it, they are all coaches harbouring similar ambitions to attain greatness in their fields.
Otto Addo is one of the young and upcoming coaches holding a lot of promise and was getting experience with his association with Borussia Dortmund in Germany until his path was directed by a Ghana call.
Although he was born in Germany, Otto Addo’s association with Ghana football dates back to 1999, spanning a period of about seven years; commencing with a 5–0 rout of Eritrea on February 28. He gained international prominence when he joined the squad for the 2000 African Cup of Nations. He featured as a midfielder in the team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
But like it’s often said, a prophet is not recognised in his own home and his efforts partially went unnoticed. He’ll go into the annals as one of the Black Stars coaches to have been fairly or otherwise criticised not just by ‘football people’ but fans who doubted him.
His sack has been discussed at various platforms by people whose knowledge and tactical acumen about the game remains questionable. Ghana’s Minister for Sports and Recreation, Mr Kofi Adams, at one point openly stated his doubts over Otto Addo’s ability to actually deliver.
No coach would feel secured in such turbulent times, but coach Otto Addo kept his calm and composure. On the corridors of his employers, however, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) president, Kurt Okraku, openly rallied support for him, though a few ‘doubting Thomases’ still questioned his credentials.
That painted a picture of a people that forget easily and are quick to crucify. In a brief moment of adversity, Ghanaians forgot how Otto Addo was brought in to pluck qualification for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup from the jaws of the Super Eagles of Nigeria with a solitary goal over two legs.
The upshot of that feat was not one any Nigerian would want to remember. The scenes after the match were awfully chaotic, as fans vented their anger on facilities at the stadium. Back in Ghana, it was partying all night and day.
Otto Addo was labeled the football magician. He achieved something no Ghanaian coach had ever accomplished; a feat which Ghana with her all-time best teams could not attain. That was the climax to which Otto Addo took Ghana football, generating calls to start believing in the Ghanaian coach.
Following that to the World Cup proper was another story altogether. It was, or may have been, our poorest show at any of the four World Cup appearances. And just as it was stipulated in his contract, he bowed out after the Qatar World Cup to mind his Borussia Dortmund business with peace.
But as fate would have it, nature found a way to renew his romance with Ghana football after an unconvincing start to the America, Canada and Mexico dream World Cup under special advisor turned coach, Chris Hughton.
Ghana started the qualifiers on a winning note but not a convincing performance. It was saved by an Inaki Williams goal scored on the sixth minute of additional time against Madagascar at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium. The Black Stars then slumped to a 1-0 defeat at the Stade de Moroni to Comoros to heighten calls for a new technical direction.
Then stepped in Otto Addo when Ghana occupied the fourth position in Group I with three points but with the countries in the group evenly matched.
By Andrew Nortey
