News for the people
Sekondi Essipon Stadium
The stadium was constructed in 2008 to host Afcon and it was left to deteriorate.GHC 18 Million ($3m) was allocated in 2018 for renovation works. Minister of Finance said in Parliament yesterday that work is 90% complete. But reports says it’s not even 10% complete. Below is the real current state. The Finance Minister needs to question who briefed him on this. Share your on this below.
Essipon Stadium current state
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has asked officials of the South African Football Association (SAFA) to eat humble pie by accepting the defeat in the final second-round group game of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
The Bafana Bafana were beaten at the Cape Coast Stadium by the Black Stars on Sunday, November 14, courtesy of a penalty goal scored by striker, Andre Ayew.
However, the South Africans have lodged a complaint with the World’s highest governing body of football, FIFA, to investigate the performance of the match officials on the day.
The SAFA further accused Ghana and Senegalese referee, Maguette Ndiaye of match-fixing.
The GFA, on the other hand, warned the SAFA not to tarnish the Black Stars’ image.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the GFA called on its South African colleagues to show respect to the achievement of the Black Stars on the said day.
“…this is not the first time Ghana has defeated South Africa and this will not be the last time,” the Association was categorical.
It further added, “In fact, every South African knows the pedigree of the Black Stars in football, a reason the team has a lot of following in South Africa.”
GFA further called out on what it described as “lies” churned out by SAFA.
Citing a tweet by SAFA prior to the game that the Bafana Bafana lads took nine hours to arrive at Cape Coast, the Communique emphasised that the allegation was frivolous, baseless and lacks merit.
“It is shocking, irresponsible, and outright disrespect to note that our colleagues from South Africa Football Association (with whom we have good relationships and mutual sporting respect) have chosen to spread falsehoods to the media rather than project the real picture of events before, during and after the game,” the statement read.
In GFA’s view, these “mountains of lies” by the SAFA are nothing but a planned scheme to “shift focus from the defeat, divert attention from their failure to qualify for the play-offs.”
It, therefore, urged all and sundry to disregard the said allegations.
“The GFA wishes to state clearly that we will always operate within the FIFA Regulations.
“As a good sporting Association, we know that Bafana Bafana gave it their all but lost to a better team (and must be forthright to tell the South African public this). We wish Bafana Bafana and our colleagues at SAFA better luck next time,” it added.
Minister of Finance Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta has admitted that the country is facing economic challenges due to the high expenditure which characterised the 2020 financial year.
He told legislators on Wednesday, November 17 that the country recorded a total budget deficit of 15 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020.
As a result, he stressed, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is not losing sleep to ensure that the economy returns to pre-Covid-19 levels.
“Mr. Speaker, we are under no illusions as to the economic challenges facing our country today,” he said in his delivery of the 2022 budget statement and government’s economic policy.
“How to ease the sufferings of Ghanaians, transform the economy to create jobs and share the expected wealth across all households, such as providing security and education are what keep the President awake at night. How to broaden the revenue base, keep a grip on expenditure, protect the public purse and at the same time build with urgency the needed infrastructure, collecting revenue, managing our debt and expenditure commitments, and paying the bills to stimulate economic activity are the orders he has given to us, his Ministers and other appointees, to carry out over the next three years.”
He assured that they will steer the economy back to stable waters just like the President had stated in the height of the deadly pandemic.
“Mr. Speaker, we have no doubt in our capacity as a government to turn things around,” he promised.
“We turned around the economic crisis we inherited in 2017. We are turning around the economic crisis the pandemic brought in 2020. The challenge is on and we are determined to prevail and with the people behind us and the Almighty on our side we know we shall prevail.
Yaw Owusu, a Ghanaian man in his late thirties has been allegedly killed in South Africa following the Black Stars 1-0 victory over Bafana Bafana in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifier at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.
The sad incident happened in a town called Mzuluku after an argument over the penalty decision awarded to the Black Stars against South Africa in the World Cup qualifier on Sunday at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-2623005858729319&output=html&h=300&adk=3682673283&adf=3229197991&pi=t.aa~a.2816640267~i.3~rp.1&w=360&lmt=1637173014&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=2278969447&psa=0&ad_type=text_image&format=360×300&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.peacefmonline.com%2Fpages%2Fsports%2Fsoccer%2F202111%2F456009.php%3Futm_source%3Ddlvr.it%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook&flash=0&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=275&rw=330&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1637173014117&bpp=35&bdt=12369&idt=35&shv=r20211111&mjsv=m202111080101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D74a25be5d26c8d11-22ac4e39d0cb00cb%3AT%3D1637173014%3ART%3D1637173014%3AS%3DALNI_Mbo8BjFrl7sCYd_oyVQUQXEWUqImA&prev_fmts=0x0%2C360x300%2C360x300%2C360x300&nras=2&correlator=985302288163&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1232961188.1637173011&ga_sid=1637173011&ga_hid=1494086465&ga_fc=1&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_h=800&u_w=360&u_ah=800&u_aw=360&u_cd=24&dmc=1&adx=0&ady=1306&biw=360&bih=672&scr_x=0&scr_y=248&eid=31060048%2C31063182%2C31060475&oid=2&pvsid=2787558362205526&pem=9&tmod=1454821695&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C360%2C0%2C360%2C672%2C360%2C672&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=9&uci=a!9&btvi=3&fsb=1&xpc=Dx083kEBCV&p=https%3A//www.peacefmonline.com&dtd=211
The penalty has generated a lot of controversy with South Africa lodging a complaint to FIFA as they believe the match was manipulated to favor the Black Stars by Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguette
Yaw Owusu who worked as a barber was allegedly stabbed by the South African who is currently on the run according to reports.
Confirming the news in an interview with Kumasi-based radio station Fox FM, Obeng Boadu gave an account of what transpired and how Ghanaians are living in fear due to threats after the game.
“Yaw Owusu, a 39-year-old man who works at a saloon had a few arguments with his apprentice before the game on Sunday, the argument resurfaced on Monday morning after the controversies on the penalty and he stabbed him to death,” he said as quoted by AshesGyamera.com.
“We are now trying to find his family members in Ghana. The tension on Ghanaians here are very high.The South Africans have threatened to deal with Ghanaians here after their petition to FIFA.
“We are pleading with authorities to come to our aid here since things may be scarier soon. I don’t thing Ghanaians are too safe as I speak to you,” he added.
South Africa Football Association has lodged a complaint at Fifa Fifa and Caf, insisting that the referee was manipulated therefore the game should be replayed on a neutral ground.
Ifordepeople