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World football governing body FIFA has approved the Project Team for the implantation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in Ghana.

The decision was announced during a meeting held on Monday, April 12, 2021 on modalities for the implementation of VAR in Ghana. In the meeting, the FIFA Technical Team approved a project team for Ghana, which is the second key step in the implementation process of the FIFA approved VAR.

A FIFA VAR Project Team include Project leader and officers with knowledge in Legal, Information Technology, Communication, Finance, Competition/Monitoring & Research, Club licence and Security as well as Technical and Training areas.

The GFA VAR Project Team approved by FIFA is made up of:

Project leader – Alex Kotey

Legal – Prosper Harrison-Addo.

Finance- Eyram Dzikunu

Communications -Henry Asante Twum

IT – Francis Adu Essah

Research/Monitoring & Security- Julius Enumah

Competitions & Organization – Sena Akoto-Ampaw

Marketing & Publicity- Jamil Maraby

CAF Instructors:

Eddy Maillet – Director of Referees- CAF

Jerome Damon – FIFA/CAF VAR Instructor

Desire Doue – CAF VAR Instructor

With the approval of the project team, a Kick off meeting will commence in three weeks’ time to approve the timelines for all the various teams in the full implementation of the VAR in 2022/2023 season.

As part of the kick-off meeting, the team will have the opportunity to select and appoint the VAR Technology Provider for the project in Ghana.

The Referee Department of the Ghana Football Association is working with their colleagues at FIFA for a smooth implementation and execution of the VAR in our domestic competitions.

The Video Assistant Referee is an assistant referee in association football who intervenes in decisions made by the referee and requests for an on field review with the use of video footage and headset for communication.

VAR was first written into the Laws of the Game by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in 2018, following extensive training in a number of major competitions.

Currently, only few African countries, namely, Morocco, South Africa and Egypt use VAR in their domestic competitions.

Yussif Abubakar, a former worker of the Hohoe branch of Star Oil Company was sentenced for stealing GH¢139,118 belonging to his employer.

His mother, seemingly broken by the development, needed physical support as she made her way out of the courtroom wailing.
Abubakar was charged with stealing about two years ago.

He pleaded not guilty but was found guilty by the court after the full trial.

The trial judge, Mr Yaw Opoku Acheampong, in a 30-minute sentence said he would have sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment but the convict, throughout the trial showed remorse for his action.

Abubakar, whose lawyer was not present in court when judgment was pronounced, was also ordered to pay back the money to the company.
He is said to have used the money for sports betting but did not win any of the bets to enable him repay the money he took from the company’s coffers.
Facts

Presenting the facts of the case, the prosecution indicated that the convict was employed at Star Oil Company in Hohoe on November 17, 2012 as a washing bay manager and a pump attendant before rising through the ranks to become a branch supervisor for the same company on March 3, 2018.

According to the prosecution, on November 19, 2019, Abubakar was asked by the company’s Relationship Officer, Mr Setor Alorwu, to produce receipts of payment of sales made from November 11, 2019, to November 19, 2019, but he failed to do so.
This raised a suspicion of discrepancies in his accounts at the company.

A report was then lodged at the Hohoe Police Station on November 19, 2019 which led to Abubakar’s detention.

An audit was subsequently conducted into the company’s accounts which revealed that proceeds from sales to the tune of GH¢139,118 made from November 8-19, 2019, were missing from the sales records.

Abubakar, when questioned on the whereabouts of the money, admitted his inability to deposit the money into the company’s account and said he used the money for sports betting.

Source: Graphiconline

Works at Adako Jachie are still ongoing and the phase is expected to come to an end soon.

READ ALSO: Adako Jachie Project: Nana K. Gyasi expresses interest to support Asante Kotoko

We bring you the latest updates on the project.

Watch the update in the video below:

Former Asante Kotoko head coach, Zdravko Logarušić has indicated that his short stint with the Ghanaian giants has improved his Curriculum Vitae (CV) as a coach.

Logarušić was appointed the head coach of the Porcupine Warriors before the start of the 2017 Ghana Premier League season but was shown the exit door in April 2017 due to poor performance.

He managed five wins out of eleven at Asante Kotoko who were determined to win the league then.

Despite working at the Ghana Premier League outfit for a very short period, the Croatian football manager believes his short stay has really made his CV rich.

“I will say working with Asante Kotoko enriched my CV as a coach”, he told Ashh FM in Kumasi.

Asked whether he hopes to return to Asante Kotoko in future, coach Logarušić said that, “Yes… I have been monitoring them [Kotoko] but not every day but in future, I would be happy to coach Kotoko again if the opportunity comes again.”

Zdravko Logarušić is currently the head coach of the Zimbabwe national team and will be competing with Ghana in the same group in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.