Sports
UNODC and GFA Foundation donate football & Sports items to Ankaful Prison
The Ghana Football Association, through the GFA Foundation and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), have presented football & various sports items and logistics to the Ankaful Maximum Security Prison, located in the Central Region, at an impressive ceremony.
The presentation of the football items and logistics is part of the GFA Foundation-Ghana Prisons Project, which seeks to use the power of football to promote the wellbeing, welfare, reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates of Ghana’s prisons into society.
The presentation of the sports items, including basketball hoops and balls, footballs, and volleyballs presented by the UNODC, was in line with the “Strengthening the compliance of the Ghana Prisons Service with the Nelson Mandela Rules” project.
The Ankaful Maximum Security Prison is the first prison facility under the second phase of the GFA Foundation-Ghana Prisons Project to receive football items including jerseys, footballs, goalkeepers’ gloves and sets of football hose.
The other items are whistles and caution cards (yellow & red cards) and ball pump needles.
In a short meeting with the Regional Commander and senior officers of the facility, the Director of the GFA Foundation, Malcolm Frazier Appeadu commended them for the hard work and the diligence which ensures the safe custody of prisoners.
He admonished them to make good use of the items donated so as to derive the maximum benefit from the project.
In response, the Regional Commander and the Officer-in-Charge of the Ankaful Maximum Security Prison, Deputy Director of Prisons, Alfred Codjoe thanked the GFA and the UNODC for the donation and the upcoming training programmes.
“Sports and especially football and other physical activities help in managing and safeguarding the welfare and security of prisoners especially those here with long prison sentences,”he added.
He further expressed his gratitude to the Central Regional Football Association for their continuous support and assistance in organizing football matches for the inmates and officers at the facility
The GFA Foundation – Ghana Prisons Project is based on three pillars: The first pillar is the donation of football items and logistics; the two other equally important pillars are coaching and refereeing training programmes for inmates and officers, and advocacy workshops to sensitize the public and the citizenry on the negative impact of discrimination and stigmatization of prisons and prisoners.
An exhibition match played between the officers and inmates ended in a goalless draw.
A former Black Stars player, Emmanuel Agyeman Badu who was the football legend and icon for the day, as part of the advocacy against the negative perception of prisons and prisoners, expressed his excitement at being at a prison facility for the first time and seeing the inmates in high spirits and interacting with them.
He encouraged the inmates to be of good behaviour and cooperate with the officers and be law abiding. “I will visit you again with my former Black Stars colleagues to play a match and I can assure you that we will win”, he stated confidently.
The UNODC Prison and Penal Reform Project-Ghana were represented at the presentation ceremony by Mr. Christoph Capelle, Project Coordinator, Helena Adobea Ofori, Associate Programme Officer, Caleb Elorm Agodzo, Administrative Officer, Mr. Tony Amaechi, International Consultant, and DSP. Stephen Aboagye, Focal Person for Training, GPS/UNODC/INL project.
Accompanying the Director of the GFA Foundation were Mr. Kwame Koramoah and Emmanuel Kpab from the GFA Head Office.
Senior Officers of the Prison facility present were Second-in-Command, Assistant Director of Prisons, Roger Azanya, CSP Jennifer Addae, Physician Assistant, Supt Frank Ameho, Head of Sports, ASP Emmanuel Otoo, Deputy Head of Sports, SCO Amoah Saah – Senior Chief Officer Administration, all of the Ankaful Maximum Security Prison and ASP Naomi Fainusatu Abdulai, Head of Ghana Prisons Football Teams.
The first phase of the GFA Foundation-Ghana Prisons project covered 6 prison facilities, these being the Senior Correctional Centre (Borstal Home) in the Greater Accra Region, Sunyani Male and Female Prisons in Bono Region, Akuse Local Prison and Nsawam Medium Security Prison in the Eastern Region and the Winneba Local Prison in the Central Region.
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.
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