GRi Sports Ghana
18 - 07 - 2001
Brigadier Brock is behind time - GHALCA chairman
Boxing-James Toney vows to be world champion in two years
GHALCA vows to see league through
Brigadier Brock is behind time - GHALCA chairman
Accra
(Greater Accra) 18 July 2001
Mr Joseph
Y. Appiah, chairman of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) has said
that the appointment of the General Secretary of the Ghana Football Association
(GFA) is the preserve of the Executive Council of the GFA and Brigadier George
Brock, Acting Chief Executive of the National Sports Council (NSC) must be out
of tune to challenge it.
Commenting
on Brigadier Brock's alleged questioning of the competence of the Executive
Council in asking Mr Worlanyo Agra, current General Secretary to leave office
by end of July, Mr Appiah said the Acting CEO's reference to SMC Decree 54 as
vesting powers in the NSC to appoint staff of all associations, including the
GFA is proof of his time lag and bankruptcy about how soccer is currently run
in the country.
The GHALCA
chairman said the Executive Council is determined to make the GFA function
professionally and achieve results that would make Ghanaians happy. They would
therefore, not sit down and watch things get out of control before they act,
neither would they succumb to the dictates of an NSC which does not play any
major role in football administration in the country.
He said
"it is on this premise that we decided to terminate the appointment of Mr
Agra since his performance has not been above average and his attitude to work
does not indicate any effort to improve upon his productivity."
Mr Appiah
said the Executive Council was also not happy with the part Mr Agra played in
the disbursement of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) grant to the
GFA for CAN 2000, which Ghana co-hosted with Nigeria.
"The
Executive Council took many factors into consideration and the cumulative
record of Mr Agra could not guarantee an improvement in attitude or performance
and we want somebody who would be devoted to the job and satisfy club owners
who are the major stake holders.
He denied
the speculation that the firing of Mr Agra was rooted in his relationship with
Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, the former Vice President.
"Football
is the passion of the nation and any administrator who performs well to the
admiration of Ghanaians would be hailed, regardless of his political
affiliation and the Executive Council would not conceive the idea to sack
him," he stated.
He said the
GFA survives on revenue from clubs as it does not receive any subvention from
government and it is just appropriate that the clubs dictate the tune when it
is clear that lack of devotion on the part of some GFA staff might derail
football administration in the country.
Mr Appiah
said the Executive Council has contacted the Public Services Commission (PSC)
and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) to
nominate competent people who would constitute a panel to select a new General
Secretary to replace Mr Agra.
The GHALCA
chairman said the position would soon be advertised and the successor of Mr
Agra would be ready to take over from him as soon as he vacates office.
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Boxing-James Toney vows to be world champion in two years
Accra
(Greater Accra) 18 July 2001
James
Toney, the hottest commodity on the Ghanaian boxing scene at the moment, has
vowed to win the world middleweight crown in two years.
Talking to
the GNA Sports on Monday, Toney who has just entered into a managerial
agreement with Landmark Promotions and Management Limited said he would annex
the African title by the end of the year, win the commonwealth crown next year
and wrest the world belt in 2003.
"I now
have a management which would give me fights to ensure that my ambition to
become a world champion is realised within the shortest time possible."
Toney, with
a fight record of five and as many knockouts said there are no boxers in the
division who could have the courage to fight him, so he was ready to duel with
boxers outside the country and "come July 27, I shall stop the champion of
Cote d' Ivoire and announce my readiness for the African title."
Answering a
question, the boxer the fans refer to as the "Hot Ice" said the
public challenge thrown to him by Joshua Clottey, African welterweight champion
was a hoax and Joshua has since apologised for daring to fight him.
On his
botched fight with hard-hitting contender, Braimah Kamoko Tony said it was
Braimah, who pulled out of the fight with the excuse that he would only fight
him a title contest.
He said the
boxers who climb into the ring after his victories to challenge him are only
envious and want to play down on his performance by saying his opponents are
weak.
"Let
anybody who says I have been fighting weaklings mount the ring and fight me and
see if he would not be perceived a weakling by the spectators because of the
way I will whip him."
Joshua
Clottey and Briamah Kamoko openly challenged Toney after he had posted his
fifth knockout victory against a Togolese opponent on July 6.
They
contended that Toney was being matched against weak and frail opponents in
order to enhance his record.
GRi…/
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GHALCA vows to see league through
Accra
(Greater Accra) 18 July 2001
The Ghana
League Clubs Association (GHALCA) has vowed to resort to all lawful means to
ensure that the 2001 premier league runs its full course despite the constraint
of time and wide spread speculations that the league would be abridged after
the first round.
Mr Joseph
Y. Appiah, GHALCA chairman said the main cause of the league running behind
schedule after the May 9 stadium disaster is attributable to unnecessary
postponements initialled by the GFA.
He said it
would be most unfortunate for the GFA to draw up a programme and fail to
implement it successfully because such attitude would discourage club owners
who spend very much money to maintain their players and fund the GFA from the
meagre returns they get.
The
chairman said there are rules and regulations governing football and any
attempt by the GFA to circumvent them would be nipped in the bud "by those
of us who are major stakeholders."
Mr Appiah
said it is wrong for the GFA to impose postponements on clubs, which have not
applied for any and are indeed prepared to honour their matches even though
they might have contributed three or more players to the national team.
He said he
was very much aware that Kotoko and Hearts were ready to honour their matches
despite their contributions to the national team, but they were forced to
accept postponements they did not ask for.
Mr Appiah
said with time running against the league, what the GFA should have done was to
quicken the fixtures in order to see both rounds through before the expiration
of CAF's extended deadline in December.
"If I
were in charge, we would have played matches last Saturday. Then support the
national team on Sunday and return to the fixtures a day or two later. This
kind of approach would show that we are determined to complete our
programme," he said, "adding that the GFA must operate in a
professional manner in order to induce the confidence of those who provide the
funds to keep run it."
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