Ugandan striker Steven Dese Mukwala has expressed his gratitude to Asante Kotoko supporters for the beautiful reception after completing a move to the club.

The Porcupine Warriors on Wednesday announced the signing of the Uganda international striker ahead of the upcoming season.

Mukwala sealed his transfer to the two-time African Champions after signing a two-year contract on a free transfer.

The former Uganda Premier League top scorer who has been a top target for the Porcupine Warriors for the past two seasons has finally signed for the Ghanaian giants.

Speaking after his unveiling, the former Uganda Revenue Authority attacker expressed his delight to join Kotoko and has therefore vowed to contribute his quota towards the development of the club.

“Basically, I want to thank the fans of mighty Asante Kotoko for the beautiful reception, I already feel at home because of the love showed me in the last few days and I promise to repay that faith and believe in me. I can’t wait to get started” he said.

The 23-year-old highly rated striker spent the 2019-20 season at Maroons FC where he was crowned top scorer of the Uganda Premier League.

He netted 13 goals in 23 appearances to emerge goal king of the 2019/2020 campaign while on loan from Vipers SC.

After his failed move to Ghana, the highly-rated striker signed for URA.

In his first season at the URA, the prolific attacker finished the 2020-21 campaign as the 3rd top scorer with 14 goals in 24 matches.

Mukawala in the second season at URA scored 13 goals in 26 games in the Ugandan top-flight, five behind the top scorer Cesar Lobi Manzoki who netted 18 goals at the end of the 2021-22 campaign.

Mukwala made his competitive debut for the Uganda national team on 6 September 2021 when the Cranes played Mali in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

He has 11 international caps for the Uganda national team in total since making his debut and is also yet to score a goal.

Mukawala has 40 goals in 73 appearances across the last three seasons in the Ugandan top-flight.

Gaming company, betPawa is investing an amount of $6 million into the Ghana Premier League as headline sponsor.

The partnership agreement was officially signed in a brief ceremony at the headquarters of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) in Accra Wednesday morning.

betPawa takes the headline title for Ghana’s premier club football competition for an initial three years.

Renowned AfroPop musician and shareholder for betPawa, Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade (publicly known as Mr. Eazi), stated:

“The company’s high appetite for growing and harnessing talents, creating opportunities and rewarding fans across its markets are a few of the many reasons for partnering with the GFA.”

“At betPawa, we believe in support for the local game and sports development… It is in that spirit and I being a Kotoko fan, we decided [to come on board].

“We are looking forward to a prosperous mutual benefit partnership”

Taking his turn, Ghana FA President Kurt E.S Okraku opened: “We have credible partners…

“On behalf of the Executive Council and the football fraternity in Ghana I wish to thank you for your support.”

Mr. Okraku noted that Ghana is blessed with a lot of football talents and evidence is seen through the display of soccer artistry across the various leagues, adding that “for the country to be able to compete fiercely and on equal footing with other talents across the globe, there is the need for companies like betPawa and corporate Ghana to contribute to complement to the effort of the Government.”

Outlining some initiatives that come with this $2million-a-year contract, Mr. Okraku noted:

“We just signed an agreement with betPawa for an initial period of three years. betPawa are investing a minimum of $6 million over the period.

“From this money, we shall see the construction of a new pitch at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence that will be called the betPawa Pitch.”

“From this deal, we are introducing a scheme called the Locker-room Bonuses. Here, all 30 or 40 players and the technical team of each winning team will receive bonuses immediately at the end of every game,” he added.

The GPL’s last headline sponsor was ZylofonCash in 2018 but the five-year deal worth $10 million deal ended abruptly within its first few months.

betPawa operates online sports betting business designed to help users to bet on games with 24 hours customer support. Apart from Ghana, its parent companies also operate in Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Nigeria. It is based in Tallinn, Estonia.

The 18-team Ghana Premier League returns with the 2022/23 season this September.

©Footyghana

The Ghana Football Association on Wednesday 3^rd August 2022 announced betPawa, one of Ghana’s leading online sports betting companies, as the official headline sponsor of the Ghana Premier League.

The announcement was made at a special signing ceremony held at the Headquarters of the Ghana Football Association in Accra.

The partnership between betPawa and the Ghana Football Association is aimed at properly marketing and positioning the elite league to become an African phenomenon as one of the most successful and attractive leagues on the continent.

Signing on behalf of betPawa, international superstar and betPawa stakeholder Mr Eazi highlighted that “the company’s high appetite for growing and harnessing talents, creating opportunities and rewarding fans across its markets are a few of the many reasons for partnering with the GFA”.

The GFA President Mr. Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku on his part commended betPawa for the partnership. “On behalf of the Executive Council and the football fraternity in Ghana I wish to thank you for your support”. Mr. Okraku further pointed out that Ghana is blessed with a lot of football talents and evidence is seen through the display of soccer artistry across the various leagues.

He further stated that “for the country to be able to compete fiercely and on equal footing with other talents across the globe, there is the need for companies like betPawa and corporate Ghana to contribute to complement to the effort of the Government.

betPawa have over the years been activating a lot of Corporate Socially Responsible activities aimed at championing responsible gaming, an action which is high on the corporate agenda of the company, empowering customers to be economically independent and helping to imbibe the spirit of philanthropism in customers across its markets.

These CSR activities include the Dream Maker and WIN BIG, Give Back campaigns among many others.

The brand is poised to activate a lot of attractive and interactive activities to engage and reward football fans across the country in the course of the partnership.

The 2022/23 betPawa Premier League is scheduled to be launched on 2^nd September 2022 with the league kicking off on the weekend of 9^th to the 12^th September 2022.

The Ghana Football Association will announce betPawa as the new headline sponsor for the Ghana Premier League next season.

The ceremony to unveil the online betting company as new headline sponsors will take place at the Ghana Football Association headquarters in Accra at 11 am.

According to sources, betPawa will sign a two-year deal with the Ghana FA with an option to extend for another year.

This will be a major boost for the brand as well as the Premier League clubs going into the 2022/23 season.

The Ghana Premier League last had a headline sponsor in 2018, when Zylofon Cash agreed to a $10 million deal.

However, the five-year agreement was abruptly terminated, and the league has been without a title sponsor for the last three seasons.

For all his achievements since assuming office, one of the drawbacks of the Kurt era has been a lack of a sponsor for the Ghana League.

Currently, there are low levels of remuneration in the Ghana league, leading to an exodus of the league’s finest players at the end of every football season.

In the just-ended league, the top scorer Yaw Annor has signed for Egyptian side Ismaily in a deal worth about $200,000.

There is some belief within the FA hierarchy that some of the player exoduses will be curtailed with teams in the local league in a better position to pay decent wages because of new deals.

The sponsorship deal will augment the media rights money that clubs get from the FA’s agreement with pay-tv service provider StarTimes.

Betting companies have recently taken an interest in Ghana football, with Betway also investing in the women’s league. They have also worked with the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) to organise a series of seminars for Division One League clubs and women’s football administrators.

The 2022/23 Ghana Premier League is scheduled to kick off on September 9, 2022.

Asante Kotoko have announced the signing of Ugandan international Steven Dese Mukwala.

He joins the Reds on a free transfer for a period of two years with an option to extend for a further year.

Mukwala completed his move to the Kumasi-based club after passing a mandatory medical on Wednesday morning in Accra.

The 23-year-old highly rated striker spent the 2019-20 season at Maroons FC where he was crowned top scorer of the Uganda Premier League.

He netted 13 goals in 23 appearances to emerge goal king of the 2019/2020 campaign while on loan from Vipers SC. In his first season at the URA, the prolific attacker finished the 2020-21 campaign as the club’s top scorer with 14 goals in 24 matches and third on the goal king chart in Uganda.

In the just-ended season, Dese netted 13 goals in the Ugandan Premier League for URA FC, finishing as the club’s second top scorer of the season.

Mukwala made his competitive debut for the Uganda national team on 6 September 2021 when the Cranes played Mali in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

He’s expected to join land in Ghana next month to complete his paper works and join the team for the Turkey preseason.

Asante Kotoko are expected to keep their talisman Franck Mbella Etouga for the upcoming season.

After a successful stint with the Porcupines, the 21-year-old has been linked with a transfer to clubs abroad.

In his debut Ghana Premier League (GPL) season, Etouga scored 21 goals and registered three assists which helped Asante Kotoko win the 2021-22 league season.

The Reds have received offers from clubs like Udinese, Frankfurt, Rennes amongst others with Bundesliga outfit, Freiburg latest to join the race.

It’s been reported that, Mbella will sign a pre-contract agreement with Freiburg in a deal worth around $1.8 million.

The report further stated that Mbella will still play for Kotoko for a half season before he joins Freiburg FC. The Bundesliga club will pay $1mill and later pay $800,000 when the player joins them.

With reports that Mbella will stay with the club for at least half a season, the club have slowed down talks to sign Cameroonian striker Alain Akono Akono who was seen as a direct replacement for Mbella.

Akono Akono’s camp are believed to be quoting high figures as salary with the Porcupines unwilling to meet his demands hence their resistance to make Mbella leave this summer.

Frederick Asare has been acquired by Asante Kotoko on a free transfer after ending his stay with Accra Lions. 

The young goalkeeper joined the team to replace Razak Abalora after impressing football fans in the recently concluded Ghana Premier League by making incredible saves and displaying high-level technical skills.

In 28 games for Accra Lions, the 23-year-safest old’s set of hands kept 13 clean sheets, marking his first start in the Ghana Premier League.

Asare, a former goalkeeper for the Black Satellites, was a member of the group that competed in the 2019 WAFU under-20 competition, the 2019 African Youth Championship in Niger, and the 2019 African Games in Morocco.

He will be an excellent addition to the Kotoko team, which will begin preseason training in Turkey for both domestic and African interclub competitions at the start of the new season.

Announcing the deal, the club posted on their social media handles , saying; “We are pleased to announce the capture of Goalkeeper Frederick Asare on a three-year deal

“Asare joins us on a free transfer following his exploits for Accra Lions last season,” an official statement from Asante Kotoko has said this.