AshGold Arrive In Algeria

A 30-man contingent made up of players and management of Ashanti Gold has arrived in Algeria safely for the second leg of the CAF Champions League preliminary qualifier against M. O Bejaia.

The Ghana Premier League defending champions left Accra on Thursday night via Turkish Airline to Algiers and the official social media handle of the club has confirmed the arrival of the team for the all important encounter.

“Touchdown Ashgold arrives in Algeria. #ashgoldwin #kakai #trashmob” the official Twitter handle wrote.

AshGold won the reverse fixture 1-0 at the Obuasi Len Clay stadium a fortnight ago, a win head coach Bashir Hayford was not impressed with, but remained optimistic of winning the over two legs.

M.O Bejaia on the had described the loss as a win for them and reckon they stand the chance of dropping the Ghanaians out of the continent’s flagship inter-club football competition.

Ashanti Gold are expected to train at the Stade de l’Unité Maghrébine,

Béjaïa , On Saturday, 24 hours to match.

The Confederation of Africa Football, named Sudanese officials Sabri Mohamed Fadul, Mohammed Abdallah Ibrahim (first assistant), and Elmoiz Ali Mohamed Ahmed (second assistant) for the match.

The match will be played on Sunday February 28 and kick off time is 17:00 GMT.

AshGold Arrive In Algeria

Ghana To Play Either Ethiopia OR Somalia

Ghana Black Satellites will play the winner of Ethiopia v Somalia in the upcoming Africa Youth Championship qualifiers scheduled to take place in Zambia next year.

The national U-20 team will join the qualifiers in the second and has been drawn against either Ethiopia or Somalia.

The draws were conducted during the CAF Executive Committee meeting held on Friday, 5 February 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda.

Seven teams will emerge from the qualifiers to join the hosts for the final tournaments early next year.

The final tournament of the U-20 AFCON has been fixed for 26 February to 12 March 2017 in Zambia.

The top four countries at the continental championship will qualify to represent Africa at the FIFA World Youth Championship in South Korea.

Ghana finished third in the last edition the Africa Youth Championship in Senegal and were knocked out of the World Cup in New Zealand after 3-0 loss to West Africa neighbours, Mali at the round of sixteen.

Ghana To Play Either Ethiopia OR Somalia

26 Countries Will Disobey CAF - Bility

At least 26 African countries will defy their continental confederation and not vote for Sheikh Salman of Bahrain in the FIFA presidential election, the outspoken head of the Liberia football federation said on Monday.

Musa Bility, who himself failed an integrity check to stand in the Feb. 26 election, said he had spoken to representatives of nearly half of Confederation of African Football members.

“Let me tell you” they won’t back Salman, Bility told The Associated Press.

Liberia Football Association president Bility also said he had sent a letter to the head of FIFA’s election committee demanding he step down over a “conflict of interest.” Domenico Scala should resign because he has the same Swiss nationality as one of the candidates, UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino, Bility said.

“None of the admitted candidates has raised this matter to date, which makes it evident that Mr. Scala’s impartiality is not put in question by any of them,” FIFA ad-hoc election committee spokesman Andreas Bantel said.

On Friday, Sheikh Salman, the Asian Football Confederation president, was publicly endorsed in the FIFA election by CAF, apparently a major boost to his chances. CAF urged its 54 member countries to vote for the Bahraini royal.

Africa, with the largest number of voting members out of the continental confederations, is set to be a significant battleground in the vote.

But Bility’s comments followed assertions by some of Salman’s rival candidates that an endorsement by CAF’s executive committee does not translate into widespread support among the confederation’s member countries.

“As a nation we have the right [to vote for who we want],” Bility said on Monday. “Our rights are not tied with the rights of the executive committee of CAF.”

Bility’s association announced in the hours after CAF’s public show of support for Sheikh Salman that it would instead be voting for Prince Ali of Jordan. Prince Ali said Egypt had also promised him its vote, while South Sudan declared its support for Infantino.

There are five candidates in the running to succeed Sepp Blatter. Salman, Infantino, Ali, former FIFA official Jerome Champagne of France and South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale. Salman and Infantino appear to be the strongest contenders.

 

Source: AP

26 Countries Will Disobey CAF - Bility

AshGold Must Beat Bejaia - Fatau Dauda

Ashantigold keeper Fatau Dauda is optimistic his side that he and his colleagues has no option than to beat MO Bejaia in their CAF Champions league preliminary first leg qualifier on Sunday.

The Miners are scheduled to play the Algerians in Obuasi this weekend but raised some doubts after an unimpressive display against Medeama in the Ghana Super Cup.

However, the Ghana international believes his side are focused on achieving victory irrespective of their performance in the Super Cup.

“Some of the players are young players. We also started when we were young and they gave us the platform to play and we got to where we are now,” Fatau told Joy FM.

“We the experienced players in the team will be together and push the boys so we win and win well.

“We have no option but to win. We know it will be difficult but we believe in ourselves and we know we can do it.

“So we are preparing well.” He said.

Ashantigold are playing in the Champions League by virtue of their status as Ghana league champions.

AshGold Must Beat Bejaia - Fatau Dauda

My Children Will Never Play For Ghana - Charles Taylor

Former Accra Hearts of Oak attacker, Charles Taylor has said that he will prohibit any of children who has the mind of playing football in Ghana or the Black Stars.

The ex-Kotoko striker revelaed that he was ill-treated during the CHAN tournament in Abidjan in 2009 will prevent any of his children harbouring thoughts of playing for Ghana because the country is not worth sacrificing yo ur life for.

Talyor claim he was completely neglected by the handlers of the Local Black Stars team in 2009 after sustaining an injury which nearly brought his football carrer to an end whiles playing for the Black Stars at the 2009 (CHAN) tournament.

This he explains makes him feel dejected and does not see the reason why he should pray for any of his children to play for Ghana.

“As i sit here right now, if my kids knows how to play football and you ask them to play for Ghana, I will prohibit them,” Taylor told JLife Radio in Sunyani.

He explained that: “Because of what happened to me, I won’t allow them to play for any of the national teams or even in the Ghanaian league because there is no benefit in it.

Charles Taylor was a member of local Black Stars team that qualified to final of the maiden edition of the tournament. He revealed he got injured during competition and was left on his fate.

“After what happened to me during the CHAN tournament, not even a single member of the Ghana Football Association was able to call me to ask of the condition of my wounded leg after the competition, so I’ve realize there is no need dying for Ghana.”

Charles Taylor was a member of the Accra Hearts of Oak team that won the CAF Champions league in 2001, defeating Esperance Sportive de Tunis.

My Children Will Never Play For Ghana - Charles Taylor

Dr. Ahmed Mustapha fired As Sports Minister

His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, president of the Republic of Ghana has relieved Dr. Mustapha Ahmed off his position as Minister of Youth and Sports.

Dr. Mustapha Ahmed was appointed sports minister to replace Elvis Afriyie Ankrah in July in 2014.

Hon. Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye will take over from Dr. Mustapha Ahmed.

Dr. Ahmed Mustapha fired As Sports Minister

Host Rwanda And Cote d"Ivoire Open Gates As CHAN Starts Today.

The fourth edition of the Afrcia Nations Championship (CHAN), a unique senior national team tournament for home-based players kicks off in Rwanda today (Saturday) in Kigali.

Players eligible for this competition must be a native by birth or adoption and ply their trade in their country.

The tournament matches are recognised by FIFA as full internationals with results counting toward the monthly Coca-Cola FIFA rankings.

The Confedrration of Africa Football inaugurated the idea to provide competitive tournaments for local base players and provide national team experience as most national teams in the continent has been monopolized by players who ply their trade abroad.

Labelled the ‘baby brother’ of the Africa Cup of Nations, the CHAN has the same format with 15 qualifiers and the hosts split into four groups from which winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals.

The home-only rule will have little effect on finalists like Rwanda and Ethiopia, the bulk of whose leading footballers perform in the domestic championships.

But the Nigeria and Ivory Coast CHAN squads bares no resemblance to the sides which won the Cup of Nations in South Africa and Equitorial Guinea respectively.

Tunisia and Nigeria (who placed 4th in last edition in South Africa) are the first and second seeds in Group C and are tipped to sail through the group with success.

Guinea are debutants whilst Niger who makes up the group are in the tournament for the second time.

Host Rwanda had no favours as they were housed alongside Gabon, Ivory Coast and Morocco the strong Group A.

Democratic Republic of Congo, winners of the maiden CHAN tournament against Ghana in Abidjan seven years ago, and Cameroon look the strongest sides in Group B, which is completed by Angola and Ethiopia. Angola are known for quality home talents playing while Ethiopia showed the continent what their league is made up off during the 2013 Africa Cup of nations in South Africa.

Mali, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe make up Group D.

Zambia have chosen midfielder Isaac Chansa and striker Christopher Katongo, pivotal figures in the team that mocked the form book by winning the 2012 Cup of Nations.

Recalled after two years in the international wilderness, the veterans said they were ‘humbled by the call-ups and the confidence shown in their abilities.’

Rwanda and Ivory Coast will open the floodgates at 15:00 GMT before Gabon and Morocco lock horns in the second Group A game at 18:00 GMT.

Host Rwanda And Cote d"Ivoire Open Gates As CHAN Starts Today.

Ghana Named In CIES Age Cheating Report

Despite fielding the youngest players in A national teams in 2015, Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon continue to remain underachievers due to endemic age cheating, a CIES report has stated.

In its January 2016 report, the Swiss-based Football Observatory cast doubt on the declared ages of African footballers which it claims is responsible for the untapped potential of African teams in senior football.

Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon are listed as having fielded the youngest players among 50 sampled A national teams in 2015 – 24.7, 25.1 and 25.3 years respectively.

“However, this result must be analysed carefully insofar as footballers born in Africa tend to be older than they claim to be,” stated the report.

With the immense talent on the continent, only three teams – Ghana, Senegal and Cameroon – have ever reached the quarter finals of the World Cup.

However, both Nigeria and Ghana have regularly won world titles at youth levels, with Nigeria winning a record fifth Under-17 world title last October.

“Lying about one’s age is a common practice that implies a competitive advantage in youth categories,” said the report.

“However, in the long term, this strategy is counterproductive as it does not provide optimum conditions for the full development of talent.

“This is one of the reasons for which the real potential of African squads remains untapped.”

Fielding young players has its advantages as the report highlighted the impact of youth in the England national team that qualified seamlessly for the 2016 European Championship.

However, the Netherlands were let down by youth as they failed to qualify for the same tournament despite fielding players with an average age of 25.6 years, the same with England.

“In the first case, the bias towards youth has not been a success as the Dutch failed to qualify for Euro 2016. For the English, on the other hand, the results have been more positive.

“The youthfulness of the players available to Roy Hodgson is the sign of a renaissance which suggests a promising future,” the report said.

The remaining teams in the top 10 are Korea Republic, Algeria, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium.

Credit: Yahoo Sports

Ghana Named In CIES Age Cheating Report