Ghana is not an island, hence, our agreement with FIFA – Deputy AG

Deputy Attorney General, Joseph Kpemka says government’s decision to rescind the move to dissolve the Ghana Football Association (GFA) was borne out of the fact that Ghana cannot operate in isolation of international bodies it has engagements with.

He noted that, once you enter into an agreement with FIFA, it is important to comply with the rules and regulations of the agreement.

The decision by government to dissolve the GFA was as a result of an investigative piece by ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas which captured some officials of the association receiving bribes.

This decision was later rescinded following a threat by FIFA to ban Ghana from participating in international tournaments.

Read: Fifa gives Ghana 2-wk ultimatum to withdraw court case against GFA

Read: Ghana reaches deal with FIFA to escape ban; court case against GFA to be withdrawn

Speaking on 3FM’s Sunrise morning show on Monday, August 20, Mr. Kpemka said government made the right decision by agreeing with the terms of FIFA.

“We are living not as an island, but we live among a comity of nations and our membership of international organizations are predicated on principles, on rules, on regulations, and on law.”

He added, “And so far as you subscribe to an international organization, then you must again agree with the principles, rules, and regulations governing that international organization. That’s a basic fact, so fundamental to any agreement that anybody can actually reach.”

He said as a responsible government, they acted based on public reaction to the content of the investigative piece.

“There was pent-up feelings and massive accumulation of anger, an out pouring of anger by many Ghanaians. In fact, it was like a mere unanimous decision and verdict by Ghanaians that something radical ought to be done by leadership in this country to cleanse the football association of the ills that have been perceived earlier.”

According to Mr. Kpemka, government went through the right legal process to deal with the issue.

“We invoked the appropriate sections of law which is the legal system in our country, and we decided that by the official Liquidations Act, we could actually invoke certain sections of it to say that the company was formed and it was been used for a purpose either than what it was intended for, and so we then petitioned the court to order a dissolution.”

Government interference dangerous for Ghana Football- Former GFA Boss

A former Chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Awuah Nyamekye is warning of dire consequences if government continues to interfere in football.

According to him, in spite of those exposed in Anas number 12 video, they are equally competent people in the GFA’s Executive Committee who can be put in charge to organize congress and elect a new president and vice to lead the Football Association.

“Our case is very trivial and did not require government intervention. We could have easily solved it by allowing the remaining ExCo to be in office till 2019 and then organize their own elections for new president and vice”, he explained.

The former GFA Chairman urged members of the Executive Committee to support Normalization Committee by FIFA and do their work well. He added that, "If they have issues they should petition the Court of Arbitration for Sports.

36 Black Maidens called to camp ahead of FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup

Ghana female U-17 team coach, Evans Adotey has invited 36 players to camp ahead of the FIFA U-17 world Cup in Uruguay.

The team will begin preparations on Monday at the Ghanaman Soccer Center of Excellence.

All 36 players are expected to report to camp today as the start preparations ahead of the mundial.

The team will be pruned to 21 players for the World Cup in Uruguay.

Captain and to scorer in qualifies Abdulai Mukarama was named in the team with Rafia Alhassan, who was in the Black Princesses team for the World Cup also included.

Baba Rahman confident of starting berth at Schalke ahead of Hamza Mendyl

Ghana defender Baba Rahman is oozing with confidence ahead of the start of the new Bundesliga season after lasting the entire duration of Schalke O4's 2-0 win over FC Schweinfurt in the DFB Pokal on Sunday.

Rahman, who rejoined Schalke midway last season from Chelsea has seen his position at the club under threat following the arrival of 20 year old Moroccan left back Hamza Mendyl.

The 24 year old Ghanaian revealed he is a hundred percent fit for the season and he is hopeful of starting ahead of his main competitor for the position, Hamza Mendyl.

"I felt very well, the strength was back, I feel 100 percent again", Baba is quoted by the "Funke Mediengruppe" after the cup success in Schweinfurt.

"For us as a team that is very good," added Baba on competing with Hamza for the left back position.

"Yeah, everybody wants to play, I've been with this team for a long time and he [Hamza Mendyl] is new."

After his serious knee injury Baba Abdul Rahman has only completed a single Bundesliga match for the S04. Since 2016, he has been only eight times in the Bundesliga for the miners in the starting eleven.

No Ronaldo, no fans - Real Madrid have lowest La Liga attendance in 10 years

The post-Cristiano Ronaldo era at Real Madrid began the way the pre-Cristiano Ronaldo era ended, with a half-full Santiago Bernabeu.

Goals from Dani Carvajal and Gareth Bale against Getafe got Julen Lopetegui's side off to the perfect start in the 2018-19 La Liga season, but the lack of home fans was as conspicuous as the absence of their former talisman.

Just 48,466 people came through the turnstiles for the first home game of the season, which should have attracted both hardcore fans and football tourists to see some of the biggest names in world football.

The last time, Real played in front of such a paltry Santiago Bernabeu crowd was the final home game of the 2008-09 season, which came during a five-game losing streak that was started by the historic 6-2 Clasico defeat to Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, who had both Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi scoring braces.

After that loss, Los Blancos slumped to second place in the table and decided to take the risk of breaking the world transfer record to sign a certain Portuguese attacker from Manchester United. Ronaldo moved to Madrid in June 2009, spending the next nine seasons at the club where he won four Champions League titles but just two Ligas.

With Ronaldo now gone to Juventus, fans failed to turn up for Madrid's first game of the season, with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's shadow cast large over the empty seats in the stadium.

No replacement has been brought to provide firepower in attack. Nobody can replace Ronaldo's record of 450 goals in 438 games for Real Madrid, but new head coach Lopetegui had to rely upon the familiar faces of Marco Asensio, Karim Benzema and Bale to lead the lineup front.

Bale started the season the way he started the last two campaigns - with a goal in the opening fixture - and will be expected to take on more of the burden in attack, having played just 26 Liga games last season and 19 in the previous campaign.

The empty seats at the Bernabeu were not just down to Ronaldo's summer switch, with the late kickoff time also hindering many younger fans from attending. Perhaps more importantly were the lack of new faces on show. Every single one of the starting XI was at the club last season, while the three substitutes brought on during the second half were also Zinedine Zidane regulars.

Fans hoping for a glimpse of new goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in action will have to wait at least another week to see the World Cup Golden Glove winner, while €45 million (£40m/$51m) wonder kid Vinicius Junior was restricted to a role on the bench.

Real Madrid may not have got the attendance they wanted for the opening game, but they got the three points needed to ensure they compete for the title again. The fans have not yet forgotten Ronaldo, but more victories can help the transition and get the crowds back to Santiago Bernabeu.

FIFA imposes its will on Nigeria, Ghana over football management disputes

Global football governing body FIFA on Monday announced that Nigeria will no longer be suspended over a long-running court case focusing on the disputed leadership of its federation.

FIFA said it had received confirmation that the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) had restored control of the body and its offices to its president Amaju Pinnick and secretary-general Mohammed Sanusi.

“In view of these circumstances, FIFA deems that the conditions set by the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council have now been met and consequently the suspension of the NFF will not take effect,” FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA made its ruling after a spokesman for acting President Yemi Osinbajo said Pinnick and his executive committee were recognised as the leadership of football in Nigeria.

FIFA’s strict non-interference rules

Last week, FIFA threatened to suspend Nigeria and Ghana over if their governments intervened in resolution of leadership and corruption stalemates respectively.

The governments of the two African football powerhouses had intervened in the management of the football federations.

FIFA does not accept third-party interference in its member federations and in the case of Nigeria, warned that it would suspend Nigeria if the NFF was not led by its elected president, voted in 2014.

Nigeria put itself on a collision course with FIFA in July when the government’s sports ministry directed the NFF to comply with a court order to overturn Pinnick’s election and recognise Chris Giwa as its head.

A FIFA ban would have immediately meant that Nigeria would not honour a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Seychelles next month, while they would also have been disqualified from the under-17 African zonal qualifiers in Niger, which kick off on September 2.

Ghana settles with FIFA

Last week, the government of Ghana reached a deal with FIFA to work together to clean up football administration in the country, shelving plans to dissolve the corruption-stained federation.

Ghana’s attorney general had taken steps towards dissolving the embattled Ghana Football Association (GFA) after an explosive documentary in June showed officials allegedly soliciting bribes worth millions of dollars.

In both cases, FIFA had its way and will continue to strictly enforce its regulations.

“FIFA will continue to closely monitor the situation in order to ensure that FIFA’s rules and regulations are fully adhered to,” it added.

Arsène Wenger to get honour from George Weah

Liberian President George Weah is to award his former football coach, Arsène Wenger, his country’s highest honour.

President Weah, the only African to have been named World Player of the Year, was signed by Wenger in 1988 when he coached Monaco.

Wenger, who stepped down as Arsenal manager this year after 22 years, nurtured several African stars.

The president retired from football in 2003 and went into politics. He won last year’s election by a landslide.

Wenger is expected to be in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, for the award ceremony on Saturday, Liberia’s Information Minister Eugene Nagbe told the BBC.

He will be inducted into the country’s Order of Distinction and be given the title of Knight Grand Commander of the Humane Order of African Redemption – the highest rank possible.

The award is not only about the personal connection between the president and Wenger, the information minister said, it also recognises that he “has contributed to sports in Africa and has given many Africans opportunities”.

At Arsenal, Wenger coached 16 African players, including Ivory Coast’s Kolo Toure, Cameroon defender Lauren and Nigerian Nwankwo Kanu.

President Weah has said that Wenger “took care of me like his son” when he went to Monaco, adding that “besides God, I think that without Arsene, there was no way I would have made it in Europe”.

Wenger has returned the compliment, calling the president’s life story “a miracle”.

“I remember when I saw him the first time at Monaco, coming in a bit lost, not knowing anybody, not being rated by anybody as a player and becoming the best player in the world in 1995 and today becoming the president of his country,” he told journalists in January.

Seven things about George Weah:

PSG George Weah (R) kicks the ball during the Champions league match Spartak Moscow - Paris-Saint-Germain, on September 28, 1994, in Moscow.

Born 1 October, 1966, grew up in a slum in Liberia’s capital

Signed by Arsène Wenger to Monaco from Cameroonian club Tonnerre Yaoundé

Made Monaco debut in 1987, went on to play for AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea

Only African to win Fifa World Player of the Year

First ran for president in 2005, losing to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Graduated with a business degree from a US university after being accused of lacking education

Elected president in December 2017 winning 62% of the vote Presentational grey line

Wenger is also due to be made a chief by members of Liberia’s Arsenal fan club when he is in the country, the information minister said.

The current coach of the Togolese national team, Claude Le Roy, will also get a national honour on Saturday.

He coached Cameroon in 1988 and recommended that Wenger should sign George Weah, who was playing for Cameroonian side Tonnerre Yaoundé at the time.

Emmanuel Boateng steps up recovery process

Ghana forward Emmanuel Boateng is set to recover in time for Levante's third La Liga game against Valencia.

The Black Stars forward has been out since injuring suffering a meniscus injury in the first friendly of the preseason.

However, the former Moreirense forward has stepped up his recovery process and joined the first team for practice.

Manager Paco Lopez stated in the pre-match conference ahead of their La Liga opener against Real Betis that the Ghanaian could be available for the third game against Valencia.

"Right now, with Boateng's injury, which I do not think is beyond the third match, we have Raphael, Roger and Morales, and I tell Morales in both positions," assured the coach of Levante during the first appearance of the season against Real Betis.

Initially, the medical reports indicated he could be out for a period of about six to eight weeks.

However, the Ghanaian looks set for the weekend's showdown against Valencia. Levante released a video of the striker working on with the ball with the entire team.

In Boateng's absence, Ghanaian compatriot Raphael Dwamena aided in the club's 3-0 win over Real Betis on opening day.

Asamoah Gyan remains Ghana captain - Kwesi Appiah

Black Stars coach Kwesi Appiah has put to bed rumours that he is about to appoint a new captain for the Black Stars, insisting that “Asamoah Gyan remains the captain of the national team”.

It has been widely speculated in the media that Kwesi Appiah will in the coming days announce a new leader for the playing body of the Black Stars with Inter Milan midfielder, Kwadwo Asamoah becoming Asamoah Gyan’s successor.

The rumours further suggested that the future of Andre Ayew and Asamoah Gyan in the Black Stars was over with Kwesi Appiah determined to build his team with a crop of young and determined players.

In a chat with media men on the sidelines of the launch of the J. A Kufour Cup, coach Kwesi Appiah described the rumours as false and reaffirmed his trust and confidence in Asamoah Gyan as the substantive skipper of the Black Stars.

He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to treat those reports with the contempt it deserves and back the national team as it seeks to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

“We have no new captain. Asamoah Gyan remains the captain of the Black Stars. Until we announce that we have appointed a new captain, it’s unnecessary for people to speculate that we have a new captain. This captaincy issue keeps coming out and brings troubles in the team. We want to have our peace. Ghanaians should support the team and stop bringing up issues that do not exist”, he said.

Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey has been handed the role on an interim basis but the 25-year-old has downplayed his chances of replacing Asamoah Gyan.

Coach Kwesi Appiah is expected to announce the squad for AFCON qualifier against Kenya in the coming days with Kwadwo Asamoah making a return after a 4-year break from international football.

'There are things that I cannot say, otherwise I will get fined' - Pogba hints at unrest

After scoring in the Red Devils' 2-1 win over Leicester City, the World Cup-winning midfielder was ambiguous over his status at Old Trafford

Paul Pogba says he will not reveal how he feels about his situation at Manchester United for fear of being punished by the club.

The France midfielder scored from the penalty spot to help United record a 2-1 win over Leicester City on Friday, despite returning to training just four days prior to the fixture.

Pogba was given time off after helping his country lift the World Cup in France, though Jose Mourinho still opted to name him as captain for the Premier League opener at Old Trafford.

The 25-year-old has been linked with a move away during the transfer window, with both Barcelona and former club Juventus reportedly interested, but looks set to remain with his current employers.

Still, his relationship with Mourinho - who dropped the player on more than one occasion last season, including for a Champions League knockout tie against Sevilla - led to Pogba being questioned over whether he is happy at United.

"There are things I can say and there are things that I cannot say, otherwise I will get fined," he told reporters when asked if he felt comfortable at the club.

"When people trust you and have confidence then you are good in your own head, it's going to be easier."

Pogba posted a message on Instagram after the game that notably did not include a reference to his club boss.

"I'll always give my best to the fans and my team-mates no matter what's going on," he wrote.

Solomon Asante bags hat-trick for Phoenix Rising in defeat to Orange County

Ghanaian winger Solomon Asante notched his first hat-trick for Phoenix Rising but it wasn't enough as his side fell to a 4-3 defeat to Orange County in USL on Saturday night.

The visitors got out to a 4-0 lead thanks to goals from Michael Seaton (39th minute, 67th minute), Thomas Enevoldsen (48th minute) and Aodhan Quinn. Then Phoenix Rising began its comeback with Asante leading the way.

In the 68th minute Asante draw a foul in the box and then calmly converted the penalty kick to make it 4-1.

Five minutes later, in the 73rd minute, Asante struck again. This time he redirected a centering pass from Devante Dubose on the right flank, sliding it just under the goalkeeper to make it 4-2.

Asante finished his hat-trick in stoppage time. After beating his defender into the right side of the box, he fired a shot to the near right corner and beat the goalkeeper to the inside of the post to pull the club within one goal, 4-3.

The 27-year-old has scored 10 goals in 23 appearances for Phoenix in 2018.

Christian Atsu features in Newcastle’s opening day defeat to Tottenham

Christian Atsu made a substitute appearance for Newcastle United in their 2-1 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspurs in the opening day of the Premier League on Saturday.

The Ghanaian winger came on for Matt Richie in the final 20minutes but could not save his side from losing 2-1 at the Saint James Park.

Jan Vertonghen's early header put Spurs ahead, however the advantage was short-lived as the hosts equalised 149 seconds later, when Joselu headed in Matt Ritchie's superb cross after being left unmarked six yards from goal.

Alli put the visitors back in front, timing a back-post run to perfection to meet Serge Aurier's cross with a textbook header past home goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

Andre Ayew makes first Turkish league appearance in Fenerbahce victory

Ghana international Andre Ayew made his first appearance in the Turkish top-flight as Fenerbahçe S.K. got their campaign off to a great start with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Bursaspor.

The game was Ayew's official debut since completing his loan switch from Swansea this summer.

The 28-year old was handed a starters’ shirt by coach Phillip Cocu but was substituted in the closing seconds of the game by Alper Potuk.

He was cautioned in the 35th minute.

The former Marseille ace expressed his disappointment following his inability to mark his first appearance with a goal but was delighted his team won maximum points.

Kwadwo Asamoah powers Inter Milan to beat Atletico Madrid

Ghana ace Kwadwo Asamoah again showed how important he will be for Inter Milan when the Italian season gets underway by producing a brilliant performance in the Nerazzurri's International Champions Cup victory over Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

The 29-year-old lasted 60 minutes on the field but made a big impression, providing the assist to the only goal of the game.

The goal came in the 31st minute and it was a stunner from Lautaro Martinez. Asamoah played a brilliant diagonal ball to the far post and the ‘Toro’ found the corner with an acrobatic volley.

LIVE UPDATES: Liverpool vs West Ham

Hello and welcome to another day filled with plenty of football.

It is Super Sunday as Liverpool host West Ham in their first game of the season.
Two-and-a-half months after Kiev, Liverpool are back in competitive action, and the feeling is good around Anfield.

For West Ham, Manuel Pellegrini's takes charge for the first time as they look to build on last season's 13th-place finish.

Liverpool’s game against West Ham kicks off at 12:30 GMT.

WEST HAM TEAM

Team to play Liverpool: Fabianski, Fredericks, Balbuena, Rice, Ogbonna, Masuaku, Noble, Wilshere, Anderson, Arnautovic, Antonio
Subs: Adrian, Zabaleta, Snodgrass, Obiang, Hernandez, Yarmolenko, Diop

LIVERPOOL TEAM

Team to play West Ham: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Gomez, Robertson, Keita, Milner, Wijnaldum, Mane, Salah, Firmino
Subs: Karius, Clyne, Fabinho, Henderson, Sturridge, Lallana, Shaqiri

There is another 12:30 kick off as Southampton and Burnley lock horns.

Later this afternoon, Arsenal will also welcome defending Champions Man City to the Emirates in what will be the Match of the Day at 3pm GMT.
Long day it will be but we love it.

Stay with us for all the updates.