King Faisal FC striker Osman Ibrahim has hinted his desire to return to his mother club Asante Kotoko at the end of the 2019/2020 season.
The 20-year-old was sent on loan to King Faisal at the start of the season in search of playing time following the arrival of Maxwell Konadu.
The former Asokwa Deportivo player has been unstoppable since joining king Faisal, scoring eight goals in fourteen games before the suspension of the league due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking with Kumasi FM, Osman expressed his readiness to return to his mother club and fight for a position when given the chance.
“I’m ready and if given the opportunity, I will be able to compete for a position at Asante Kotoko.” He told Kumasi FM.
Osman loan deal with King Faisal will end at the end of the 2019/2020 season, it remains to be seen if Maxwell Konadu will recall him back.
Relegation-threatened King Faisal head coach, Slaviša Božičić is standing against the complete annulment of the 2019/20 Ghana Premier League due to the outbreak COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ghanaian top-flight has been suspended after the outbreak of the novel disease which has frozen football activities worldwide.
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) engaged the clubs last week to take a decision on the future of the season, but no decision was arrived.
The Ghana FA – who had May 5,2020 to submit their representatives for next season – have written to Confederation of African Football for two weeks extension to be able to take a firm stance on the league.
Club administrators are divided. Some have proposed for the cancellation of the league while others believe the season could be completed.
But with Ghana’s coronavirus cases number rising, there is huge uncertainty about when the ban on public gathering will be lifted to allow the return of football.
But Slaviša Božičić has indicated that the season must be continued since most of the European leagues have set a date to resume.
“I would like the league to continue.I have called my friends in europe and every league is starting. If Europe is starting why not Ghana.”
“I have solved King Faisal’s defensive problems. We have registered good and experienced defenders,none is better than them.King Faisal is a strong team now,” He told Kumasi FM.
King Faisal are languishing at the foot of the 1818-club league without a single victory.
The Business Mogul has reportedly expressed keen interest in the Executive Chairman position at the Ghana Premier League giants. Ghana’s richest man, Mr. Charles Ampofo has indicated his readiness to take charge of Asante Kotoko, according to Silver FM.
A report filed by Kumasi-based radio station Silver FM, the Juaso born Business man with an estimated net worth of $1.46bn is currently in talks with the Manhyia Palace for a possible takeover of the two-time CAF Champions League winners.
His Royal Majesty Osei Tutu II issued a statement earlier this on the expiration of the club’s Executive Chairman Dr. Kwame Kyei’s three-year mandate which he has submitted his report for an evaluation.
A three-member Committee led by Prof. Lydia Nkansah has been tasked to investigate the club’s administration for the past years.
We bring you the profile of Mr. Charles Ampofo who has expressed interest in joining Asante Kotoko as the new Executive Chairman. Charles Ampofo is the Chairman and Founder of Kampac Group which is headquartered in the business hub of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The Group engages in various activities and operates Kampac Oil as its primary business. Other companies under the Group includes Kampac Properties, Kampac Travels, Kampac Flora, Kampac Telecom and Kampac Resources.
In 1999, Ampofo founded Universal Transfer Service as a Financial Services and Funds Transfer company which went on to build an entire multi-banking network in Côte D’Ivoire which consisted of 24 banks.
Under his leadership, the company has post growth of more than 30% over the last 10 years. He has created the largest energy city in the world in the Philippines and upon completion the company will be one of the top 50 oil companies in the Far East. He is a member of the Global Fortune Forum since 2005.
Kampac International PLC was founded in 1988 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates with additional offices in the United Arab Emirates, Ivory Coast, the United Kingdom, Greece, Jordan, Nigeria, Senegal, Venezuela, Canada, Ghana, and South Africa. Ampofo, the Chairman and Founder of Kampac Group was born to his parents in the year 1960 in Juaso, Asante Akyem District in Ghana. He was born to a father who was a goldsmith and his mother was a house-wife.
At the age of six, he lost his father and life become so hard for his mother to look after seven children, the hard situation forced him to begin working at an early age and he went through childhood difficulties just like any other African child. As life went on, Charles Ampofo became hard-working thus helping his mother to look after his other siblings as well as continuing with his education.
He attended his O-level secondary school at Abuakwa State College and his A-level at Ahmadiyya College, finally, he went abroad in the United States of America and the United Kingdom for his university education. Mr. Ampofo has over 30 years of business experience.
His educational background includes a B.Sc. in Mathematics and an MBA in Business Administration. He was not on the list of Forbes list of African Billionaires because his conglomerate is not situated in Ghana.
Puma – kits sponsors of the Black Stars of Ghana have reduced the financial package for the Ghana Football Association by 30%, according to Joy Sports report.
The report indicated that the manufacturing company decided to review the financial gains of the football governing body downwards due to the negativity that surrounded Ghana following the ‘Number 12’ investigative documentary on corruption and match-fixing aired in June 2018.
The contract which expired in August 2018 was renewed during the era of the Normalization Committee, but Joy Sports report Puma cut down the financial benefits.
Nana Oduro Sarfo
Responding to the claims on Joy Sports, Executive Council Member, Nana Oduro Sarfo did not confirm the percentage reduction, but revealed that there had been changes in the figures.
“We have renewed our partnership with Puma. During the era of the [Normalisation Committee], it was renewed with the same duration of four years as it was [previously],” Oduro Sarfo said.
“The figures have changed a little because of the exposé, because of sales, because of popularity, but we [the new FA administration] have been there to speak to them and we will see how we can come back to that level [we used to be].”
Per Joy Sports’ understanding of the deal agreed between the Ghana FA and Puma, there were three benefits of the contract:
• To supply or provide kits up to a €500,000 per year and a financial contribution of €800,000 per year under the last contract.
• There were other benefits at major competitions like Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) were at every stage, there was a benefit of about €100,000 to €200,000 or more, depending on the stage the team reached.
• If Puma spent €500,000 to produce kits when sold, Ghana FA earned about 8% from the sales.
A GFA delegation, headed by President Kurt Okraku, met the kit sponsors in January and made proposals for assistance on youth and infrastructural development.
Eleven Wonders winger, Ollenu Ashitey has revealed that he has not regretted leaving Hearts Of Oak to join arch-rivals Asante Kotoko.
The enterprising attacking midfielder shockingly left the Rainbow club to join the Porcupine Warriors. But he failed to replicate his level of performance at Hearts due to injuries.
Ollenu Ashitey in Hearts jersey
The 25-year-old saw his contract terminated in 2018 – just after one season – despite signing a two-year deal.
Ollenu indicated in an interview that he left the Rainbow club because the offer from Kotoko was lucrative.
“I don’t regret and I’ll never regret leaving Hearts of Oak for Asante Kotoko,” he told Sikka FM in Kumasi.
“I left Hearts of Oak for Asante Kotoko because of the ‘good money’ they offered me. Life is all about Money after God.”
Ollenu Ashitey in action for Kotoko
The talented fleet-footed midfielder played 13 games for the Porcupines in the 2016/2017 Ghana Premier League.
During his short term at the club, he won the UBA President Cup and the MTN FA Cup title.
Alphonso Davies’ stellar first season at Bayern Munich caught the eye and earned him a new five-year deal – but his determination to succeed was forged in an upbringing shaped by war and poverty.
From moving across the world to start a new life aged five, to being chased by Manchester United, to rewriting the books of sporting history in North America and now shining in Germany, here is the story of Alphonso Davies, as told by some of the people who know him best.
“If I look back, where we came from, a refugee camp with no food, no clothes, and now here we are today. I’m proud of him.”
The year is 2000, but there is little fanfare for a new millennium in Buduburam. This Ghanaian refugee camp, often compared to a prison by its residents, is a haven for immigrants from neighbouring Liberia, fleeing a second civil war in a decade.
Most people here have harrowing tales to tell – many too graphic to recall, some to even consider. But one ray of happiness belongs to two of the camp’s newest residents, Debeah and Victoria Davies, who have just given birth to a son, Alphonso.Advertisement
The thought of bringing up their newborn in their home country, in an environment where carrying a gun has become a necessity, is too much to bear. “At home in Liberia, you had to cross over bodies to go and find food,” Victoria later recalls. “It was very scary. The best thing was to get out.”
You may recognise the name of their child. Less than two decades later, he will light up Stamford Bridge dressed in the shirt of one of the world’s most decorated clubs, Bayern Munich – having already been courted by Manchester United even before his professional debut.
“What a player this boy is,” the commentator will proclaim as Davies leaves the Chelsea backline in his wake.
Image:Alphonso Davies terrorised the Chelsea defence, and set up one of Bayern’s goals, in their 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge
But for the first years of his life, Alphonso Davies will go without school, sometimes with scant food too, with the young family’s minimal income barely enough to support them all.
“It was safe in Ghana,” says Debeah years on, looking back more fondly than he might on the family’s time in Buduburam. “But it was hard to live there. We were worried; people starve in the camp, not just in the war zone.
“For us, we can drink water and sleep. But Alphonso couldn’t make it. Every day we had to make sure we had something for him to make it in life.”
At the end of that special night in London, it will take coaxing by striker Robert Lewandowski, a man far more at home in the spotlight, to convince Alphonso to take in the adulation of Bayern’s fans before he disappears down the tunnel.
He will still be the same shy young man who began life in that camp, who has grown and matured with responsibilities few his age ever have to deal with, and forever holding that reminder from his parents – for whom life in Buduburam is all too memorable. How different it all could have been.
Image:This picture from Buduburam – taken in June 2005, when Alphonso Davies was three years old – shows children celebrating World Refugee Day in the United Nations camp
It took five years to finally see life outside of Buduburam. The family’s route out of Ghana and poverty came via a place on a re-settlement programme to Canada, where a school-aged Alphonso soon found a love of football.
Having played for a number of teams around his city of Edmonton, Alberta, he joined the Edmonton Strikers, coached by IT professional Nick Huoseh, who had only taken the reins to help his son’s team out when they needed a manager.
“Alphonso was always the quiet one,” Huoseh told Sky Sports. “If I walked into a room, it was like a drill sergeant had just arrived.
“His mom and dad worked all hours of the day since they’d moved to Canada, so when he came back from school, he’d be taking care of his younger brother and sister.
“He was changing diapers before he was a teenager, warming up milk and whatever else. At a very young age, he was taught to be independent and responsible in a way most other 11-year-olds aren’t doing.”
Of anyone in his career, Huoseh still knows him better than most. “I kind of raised him a little bit,” he smiled.
Alphonso spent as many as five days a week in the Huoseh household while his parents worked and he looked after his young siblings. While in many ways a surrogate carer to his young brother and sister, he could not do it all on his own.
Eventually, Alphonso began to come out of his shell. But he remained a thoughtful, respectful young man – as well as an increasingly talented athlete.
His parents would not let him forget the mantra they had drummed into him as a boy. “I was always talking to him,” said Debeah. “Son, don’t follow bad friends. Don’t be a bad guy. If he joins a bad crew, it’s over to him but I know he’s not going to do that.”
That added responsibility, whatever the weight it put on Alphonso, would give him an intangible boost on the pitch as his game developed. Already one of Alberta’s best track sprinters of his age, his footballing technique started to turn heads too.
“He was like a sponge,” said Huoseh. “With his maturity, he would absorb information a lot quicker, and capitalise on it too, a lot better than most of the boys.”
It would not be long before professional clubs, at home and abroad, began to take note.
When the Vancouver Whitecaps offered a 14-year-old Davies a place on their residential academy scheme, his parents were not convinced – but he had earned their trust.
“I was afraid,” Victoria told the club’s YouTube channel. “I had seen some kids on the street, what they’re doing. I didn’t want him to become a bad boy. But he promised me – I will not go to Vancouver and change. I will make you proud.”
By this point, an in-demand Alphonso needed an agent. Hopeful suitors were already sending boots, shirts and other gifts – enough to turn any teenager’s head. But when Huoseh, still helping the family look after their son from a distance, laid the first contract in front of his parents, he was in for a shock.
“Can’t you just do it?” asked Victoria. In spite of the promises of more luxurious gifts and lucrative contracts, it made sense to Alphonso to have Nick as a permanent mentor too. So that was that.
One more welcome admirer of Alphonso’s talent was Manchester United’s newly appointed North America scout, Jorge Avial. Here was a man who had watched the likes of James Rodriguez and Freddy Adu come through the ranks. Far from an easy man to impress.
But what started as a vague interest in another talented teenager on YouTube soon intensified when, less than a year after signing for the Whitecaps, Davies became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the USL, the North American second tier, barely 15 years and three months old.
Image:Davies made his debut in a Canadian Championship cup match with Ottowa Fury on 2 June 2016 aged just 15 years and seven months old
“The first time I saw him it was a quick review, he was very athletic, had tremendous speed,” Avial remembered fondly to Sky Sports.
“He looked good, but just one to keep an eye on. Later, just after I started working for Manchester United, I saw some videos of him when he had just started playing in the USL. Right away I got excited.
“I went to see him play and met up with Alphonso and Nick after the game. We went to a restaurant and from speaking to him, I knew right away he would be big, a big superstar here. I got the same feeling when I discovered Christian Pulisic, and took him to Chelsea for a trial. I told them he was just as good, if not better.”
There was no doubt in Avial’s mind that Davies had the talent. But where Adu and others he had seen in earlier years had faltered, there was something different about this teenager.
“It was about the kid as a person, as much as his talent,” he said. “I saw he was a young boy wanting to learn, not the usual kid thinking about getting a brand new Porsche. Other kids wanted to become superstars, he just wanted to learn. It’s very rare to see.
“When I believe in a player, I’m one of those guys telling my boss every day. I knew from the beginning he was going to be special, and little by little Manchester United started convincing themselves to look at the kid.”
The Whitecaps knew they had a player on their hands too, and tied Davies down to a professional deal pronto, making him the youngest player in the MLS as a 15-year-old.
Image:Head coach Carl Robinson nurtured Davies’ progression at the Vancouver Whitecaps, his first professional team
“I’ve seen thousands of players throughout my career, playing and managing, but you just know,” Carl Robinson, who was then Whitecaps head coach, told Sky Sports.
“I thought he had a chance. Getting him into my training for the first time, he was 15 and with seasoned internationals who had played in World Cups. He wasn’t out of place.
“He did things naturally, without me needing to teach him anything. It was one of the fresh things about him.”
As Davies began to make his way in the MLS, Manchester United’s interest soon firmed up but would prove more problematic than hoped. A three-week invitation to train at their Carrington base, organised through Huoseh, was vetoed by the Whitecaps who felt Davies was not ready. But with the teenager shining on the domestic scene, further interest was inevitable.
Huoseh put the feelers out among Europe’s elite – and it was not long before Bayern were in touch with the Whitecaps about their young starlet.
“I met with one or two other clubs, but speaking with the Bayern guys and seeing their plan I thought it was the best place for Alphonso,” he said.
“Honestly, I was being offered things that guys might jump on but Bayern had a small squad, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben were retiring, and it was just a good fit.
“One of the English clubs, I asked about their plan for Alphonso, and they said they might put him with the second team, or send him on loan because they weren’t sure if he would get a work permit.
“But with Bayern, it wasn’t just a phone call. It was a PowerPoint presentation, put together by [chief scout] Marco Neppe and [sporting director] Hasan Salihamidzic.
“They showed his position on the field, where he was going to play, they showed how they had 19 players in their squad, play 50 something games a year, play a lot of matches a year and the average player plays 80 per cent of the matches.”
In the end, that proved enough to convince player, club and agent that the Allianz Arena was the best place to continue his development. Perhaps it left Manchester United wondering what might have been.
“When Jose Mourinho was there, he really wanted him but it never happened,” added Huoseh. “They waited and waited, and at the end I don’t think they had the same vision and belief as Munich.”
The first half-season following his January 2019 move yielded only 74 minutes in the Bundesliga, a mental stumbling block for a teenager used to breaking records left, right and centre. Huoseh urged Davies to stay patient, having found himself on the sidelines for the first time in what had been an exponential rise to that point.
Image:Davies made his Bayern Munich debut as a late substitute against Schalke in February 2019
But his chance would come, and more emphatically than he could have ever expected.
Injuries to defenders Niklas Sule and Lucas Hernandez in the early weeks of 2019/20 saw left-back David Alaba shifted into the middle of the Bayern defence, and a gap open up in his position. Could Davies’ pace and physicality fit the bill?
One of Niko Kovac’s final actions as head coach was to find out. Although he was sacked within a fortnight of that decision, his parting gift was among the finer ones of his reign.
Assistant Hans Flick took up the reins and kept Davies in the side. He was rewarded instantly. Alphonso was still as spongey as ever, and flourished in his new position.
Davies has since started every single Bundesliga game during Flick’s reign, and moved from hot-shot Canadian youngster to one of the world’s brightest talents in a few short months.
“We didn’t expect it to go this quickly,” Huoseh beamed. “I’ve read in the German papers people saying it’s the best signing Salihamidzic has made. Having coached him as a kid, on and off the field, through to this – it’s worth more than anything.”
That performance at Stamford Bridge in March set eager ears this side of the Channel pricking up to Davies’ emerging ability, but Bayern soon cut any rumours off at their source by tying him down to a new deal until 2025.
Club legend Oliver Kahn, now a member of its board, was one of many to add their congratulations to the teenager. “He brings an incredible amount to the table and we are sure that we will still have a lot of joy with him,” he said.
Even such praise from on-high isn’t likely to go to Davies’ head. There is already an ambassador role in the pipeline to work with the United Nations to help improve the lives of refugees like Debeah, Victoria and himself. He is now a proud Canadian international too – and the Porsches are still far from his mind.
“I’m so thankful and grateful for what my parents have done,” said the man himself in a typically quiet, reserved interview. “Throughout the years, they carried the family to a safe environment, a safe country and I’m so happy they did that for us.
“You came from nothing and you’re coming to something. You’ve got to keep that mindset going.”
For all the sacrifices Debeah and Victoria made, all the decisions to give a better life to Alphonso and his siblings, the beaming look of pride on his parents’ faces, and the tears welling up in their eyes, tell you they wouldn’t change a thing.
Ghana youth striker, Edward Opoku has revealed undergoing a successful surgery in the United States of America
The 22-year-old was sidelined with a foot injury which he picked while on loan at Birmingham Legion FC.
Opoku announced on Thursday that he has undergone a successful foot surgery in the State.
The talented forward wrote on his Facebook page that:
“Thankful for a successful surgery! Recovery to being back on the field starts now! Thank you to @uvahealth, family, and friends for the support through these tough times. I can’t wait to be back on the field dancing again soon… #RoadToRecovery #BeHappy”
Opoku mutually ended his contract with Major League Soccer side Columbus Crew after spending last season at Birmingham Legion FC.
He scored one goal in 18 game he played for Birmingham Legion FC.
Peruvian trainer, Carlos Roberto Paulette is eyeing a sensational return to the Ghana Premier League after parting ways with Medeama six years ago.
Paulette had an impressive outing with the Tarkwa-based side, but had to leave on mutual consent after the Yellow and Mauves were not satisfied with his output in the top-flight.
Photo credit via Ghanasoccernet
Speaking in an interview with Agboo FM, the former King Faisal gaffer expressed his readiness to take up a new challenge in the local game.
“I missed Ghana Premier League, l want to return. The people there love the game and it’s refreshing working there because you get the support of everyone.
“Ghana is a good place to coach that is the reason I want to come back”
“I’m just in the house not attached to any club.”
His first job in the Ghana top-flight was at King Faisal where he made a remarkable impact in 2013 before leaving to take up the coaching job at Medeama.
He was linked to Ashanti Gold last year when the Miners sacked Kjetil zacherriason.
Paulette is currently the Director of Sports in one of the Colleges of Sports in New Zealand
The Sports Psychology degree holder has previously worked with South End United, Charlton Athletic, Tottenham and Ivorian Lique 1 side stella club dadjamÃ.
