Sports
17 to represent Ghana at Commonwealth Games
Ghana, one of the few African countries that have made an impact on the Commonwealth Games, will send the smallest contingent ever dispatched from Accra to the Club Games to Edinburgh from July 24 to August 2.A contingent of 17, made up of boxers, athletes and officials will represent Ghana this year.
There has been no official reason for the trimming of the squad but it cannot be un- connected to the dearth of talent currently plaguing Ghana sports.
Ghana has been adjudged the best boxing nation in the Commonwealth on two occasions. In 1966 and again in 1970, the Black Bombers, the Ghanaian amateur boxing squad, bombed their way to the top of the Commonwealth. In athletics, Ghana had been a force in the sprint events. Of late, however, all the glory is gone. The only international athlete of repute, Ernest Obeng has defected to Britain.
Hearts fall at Techiman
Techiman Holy Stars are the giant killers of the Ghanaian first division league. After holding Great Olympics to a 1-1 draw, beaten two times African champions Kumasi Asante Kotoko 1-0, Stars celebrated a Holy day with a 2-1 victory over defending champions, Accra Hearts of Oak.Huseini livened the atmosphere at Techiman with a 35th minute opener. Sam Yeboah equalised in the 43rd minute but Huseini's spot kick sent the champions all the way to Accra, the vanquished side.
Sekondi Eleven Wise pipped Real Tamale United 2-1, Okwahu United scored twice without reply against Obuasi Goldfields, a national record. Hasaacas beat Olympics 1-0, Vipers and Kotoko drew 1-1, Zebi defeated Arnold Warriors 1-0 with Cornerstone dwarfing Ebusua Dwarfs 3-0.
Other results of the ten-week old league were: Okwahu United and Dwarfs drew 1-1, Hasaacas beat Holy Stars 3-2, Kotoko beat Zebi 2-1, Wise held Hearts to a 2-2 draw, Olympics licked Arnold Warriors 1-0 and Real Tamale United and Cornerstone settled for a goalless draw.
Meanwhile, the National Olympic Committee has commissioned Dr Harold Philips former professor of physiology at the Ghana Medical School to conduct thorough medical and physical tests on the nation's top boxers and athletes as part of preparations for the Games.
Court bans Five Stars
An Ibadan High Court has restrained five foot- ballers who had signed an agreement to play for Femo Scorpion of Eruwa this season for playing for any other club in Nigeria or in any part of the world until the determination of an action against them.The players are Musa Abu, Salami Yekeen, Akinpelu Jimoh, Garba Ibrahim, Andalli Baba, all of Kaduna.
Femo Scorpion team had not played for any other club, adding that the men had signed an agreement with it to play for the club during the league matches scheduled to start in February.
Counsel to Femo Scorpion, Mr Abioudun, submitted that if there was no court order to restrain the man from registering with other clubs, Femo Scorpion would lose their services, adding that this would affect the performance of the club.
West Africa lead Britain
West Africa shot into the lead on the first day of the Benson and Hedges sponsored international golf tournament between it and Great Britain at the Ikoyi Golf Club in Lagos. In the traditional four-balls for the first two days, West Africa were two holes up, a departure from last year's first day when the visitors were ahead.The pair that put West Africa on course to retaining the trophy was Bello Seibiour of Nigeria and Bakareh Samateh of the Gambia, who played against John Morgan and Malcolm Gregson.
Morgan had put his side ahead from the first hole until the West Africans replied with birdies at the 13th, 14th and 15th to level up. Another birdie from Seibiour put the hosts one hole up up at the 18th.
The pair of Peter Akakasiaka and Ghanaian newcomer, Joseph Awuku, was the only West African side that lost their match.
New record
In line with the international standards, the Ghana Amateur Athletic Association (GAAA), has ratified Sam Kodua's 400 metres record as Sam Kodua, a Ghanaian student of Idaho University, USA, set the record when he clocked 45.58 seconds in an athletic contest in the US last year. The old national record was set by Dr Sam Bugri in 1968 at the Mexico Olympics.The GAAA had earlier ratified two national records set by local athletes at the Fourth All- Africa Athletic Championship in Cairo last year.
Ghana schools athletics
The Greater Accra inter-schools and college zone one athletic competition comes off at the Accra Stadium from February 13 to 14. Participating schools include defending champions, Accra Academy, Tema Secondary School, Accra Technical Training College (ATTC), Ada Training College and Labone Secondary School.Senegal beat Gabon
Senegal beat Gabon 1-0 (half time 0-0) in a friendly soccer international in the Gabonese capital of Libreville.Senegal's Karim Seye netted the only goal in the only goal in the 53rd minute in front of 35,000 spectators.
In Algiers, Eindoven of the Netherlands and the Algerians national side failed to score in a friendly match at Sidi Bel Abbes.
The match, watched by a crowd of 50,000, was part of the Algerian's training programme for the Mexico World Cup finals in which they will represent Africa along with Morocco.
Freeze of gate proceeds
Gate proceeds for the Asante Kotoko-Okwahu united league match in Kumasi has been frozen pending a full-scale investigation into crowd violence that erupted after the match.Mr S.A.X. Tsegah, chairman of the National Sports Council, in a statement in Accra, said the council in conjunction with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) will institute criminal or civil action against the culprits after the investigation. He said the often repeated violent behaviour of Kumasi soccer fans should be condemned in no uncertain terms stressing that drastic and punitive action would be taken to arrest such rowdyism and hooliganism which had become order of the day at the venue.
Ghana, he said, has over the years built a reputation now bordering on tradition of being a sporting country and that the council will not allow any group of persons to drag Ghana football into the mud by such disgraceful acts.
Bruno-Coetzee bout — 'An insult to Africa'
The Supreme Council for Sports in Africa (SCSA) has described the scheduled boxing bout between Britain's Frank Bruno and Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa as "an insult to Africa in general and African sportsmen in particular".Africa's governing sports body said in a letter to Britain's Minister for Sports, released in Yaounde, that the planned heavyweight fight meant it had reneged on an earlier pledge not to maintain sporting links with South Africa on the grounds of its policy of apartheid.
The Yaounde-based organisation urged the British government to cancel the "shameful match" in order to conform to its stated policy on apartheid.
FIRST DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE
TEAMSPWDLFA PWDL FA Pts
Okwahu 5 3 2 0 8 3 5 1 4 0 4 2 14
Kotoko 5 4 1 0 13 2 5 0 4 1 1 2 13
R.Utd 523095 51 3 1 3 3 12
Gt. Oly 5 1 2 2 2 3 5 3 2 0 7 4 12
Corners 5 22 16 2 5 13 2 4 4 11
Hearts 5 1405 3 1 2 4 4 11
Warriors 5 2 2 1 3 1 5 0 3 2359
Zebi 5 3 1 1 5 4 5 0 2 3 4 79
Hasaacus 5 22 175 51 1 3 2 79
Wise 52 215 5 0 3 2 3 89
Vipers 5 13 13 4 1 1 2 4
Dwarfs 5 1 4 0 3 2 5 0 14 0 11 7
Goldfields 4 2 1 1 4 1 5 0 2 3 197
H. Stars 5 3 1 1 4 4 0052 10 7
