Ashgold CEO, Kudjoe Fianoo, has announced his intention to contest the chairmanship slot of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) when nominations open for elections tentatively scheduled for March this year.

Fianoo told the Daily Graphic yesterday  that for the past  three days  both his office and home had been inundated with people from the football fraternity to contest the slot to help salvage the sunken image of the association.

A former administrative manager of GHALCA during its golden era when the once prestigious Top4 tournament was introduced, Fianoo describes as crying shame the pitiable state the association finds itself which has brought shame to great football stalwarts such as Budu Acquah, Nana Sam Brew Butler, Joseph Ade Coker, Lepowura Alhaji MND Jawula, I.K Edusei and others who blazed the GHALCA trail.

It is common knowledge to every football fan in Ghana that some few decades ago, football gala was a competition which served as a prelude for teams in the Premier League to be ready to engage themselves in a national league.

And the fans were there for the two-day, do-and-die challenge to showcase their new signings, their colours and capabilities. It was a lovely competition which began in earnest and ended late the second day at the Accra Sports Stadium.

It was something worth spending money to watch, and it dragged people from all corners of the land to the venue to cheer on their favourite clubs.

I recall one of those days when Accra Hearts of Oak fought on, to the finals to meet a very stubborn Akosombo Akotex in a grand finale and when Hearts emerged champions, it conjured a whole night's celebration which started at the Stadium with "Jama" to Chokor and its environs, and what a day to see our old men and women, boys and girls joining in the jubilation

Two FIFA presidential hopefuls yesterday laid out their respective visions for world football as they attempted to woo members of the WAFU (Zone B) ahead of FIFA Presidential Elections on February 26.

The duo, HRH Prince Ali Al-Hussein and Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, laid out their plans and objectives to WAFU Zone B delegates during a closed door meeting at their Congress at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra.

After the meeting, the candidates later gave journalists a rare insight to the messages they shared with the delegates.

First to address a large gathering of eager journalists was Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa who said he shared the vision of disgraced former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter and "would love to support an expansion to the FIFA World Cup tournament".

According to Sheikh Salman, 50, he had always supported Blatter until 2015 when he became the head of Asian football.

The strict-looking Asian Football Confederat

Two members of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) are on the verge of pulling out of the association in protest against what they describe as disparaging remarks by their chairman, Alhaji Ali Raji, against their tribe.

According to reports, ex-GHALCA boss, J. Y. Appiah, is spearheading a campaign by two Brong Ahafo Premier League clubs, Aduana  Stars and Berekum Chelsea, to withdraw from the association following an alleged comment by Alhaji Raji to the effect that the G6 trophy must not go to a village.

In addition, the CEO of Berekum Chelsea, Nana Kwame Nketia, has stated that his board had already taken a decision to pull out of the association.

Under-fire GHALCA chairman, Alhaji Raji Ali, has described the derogatory ethnic remarks attributed to him as a calculated attempt by his opponents to run or pull him down (PHD) ahead of the upcoming elections.

Reacting to allegations linking him to a disparaging comment purportedly made by him against Aduana Stars and the people of Brong Ahafo during the G6 tournament in Sekondi, the sober-looking Raji perceived the whole issue as a clandestine move by some people mainly to discredit him since he never made any such comment.

“There is no truth in that allegation. All the three witnesses who were supposed to have heard what I said have come out to deny it,” he explained.

The president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mr Amaju Melvin Pinnick, yesterday commended Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi for his consistency in leadership which led to his re-election as the President of the West Africa Football Union (WAFU) Zone B.

He said Mr Nyantakyi’s leadership had made it possible for the zone to become pacesetters on the continent over the years.

He reiterated that under the leadership of Mr Nyantakyi, the seven-member countries in the zone had demonstrated strong abilities to lead the rest of Africa and that contributed to his reaffirmation for the next four years.

Mr Pinnick, who presided over the elections, therefore, pledged his country’s support as well as that of the entire WAFU Zone B members for the GFA president.

Ghana FA chief, Kwesi Nyantakyi, was yesterday re-elected as the President of the West Africa Football Union (Zone B) after he polled four out of seven votes to beat his only opponent, Djibrilla Hima Hamidou, from Niger.

Mr Nyantakyi pipped Mr Hamidou for a second four-year term during a close election during the WAFU Zone B congress held at the Movenpick Hotel in Accra.

Mr Nyantakyi, a member of the CAF Executive Committee, will now head the powerful football bloc which comprises Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria and Togo between 2016 and 2020.

Newcastle United have agreed a £12m fee with Swansea City to sign England midfielder Jonjo Shelvey.

The 23-year-old passed a medical at St James' Park before the deal was completed yesterday between the Premier League relegation rivals.

Shelvey, who signed a four-year Swansea extension in 2015, is the first player to leave since Alan Curtis took charge.

Shelvey becomes Newcastle’s second January signing after Senegal midfielder Henri Saivet's arrival.

Former Real Madrid defender Roberto Carlos believes he could be key in taking Barcelona's Neymar to the Santiago Bernabeu.

The 42-year-old former Brazil international confirmed he was currently involved in talks to join new Real manager Zinedine Zidane's backroom staff at the Bernabeu.

The World Cup winner, who made over 500 appearances across an 11-year spell with the Madrid club, is confident he could persuade compatriot Neymar, who came third at Monday night's Ballon d'Or ceremony, to join Real from rivals Barca.

"I had a meeting with Real Madrid about my future with the club," he said in an interview on Punto Pelota.

The Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) has released the names of nominees of sportsmen and women who excelled in the year 2015.

The nominees, who will be honoured at the prestigious MTN-SWAG Awards on May 28 at the Banquet Hall, State House, Accra, were drawn from various sporting disciplines.

Leading the nominations is the Sports Personality of the Year category, which has Andre Ayew, Asamoah Gyan, Yusif Basigi and Bashir Hayford, with Ayew, Gyan and Harrison Afful vying for the Footballer of the Year Award.

Addressing a press conference in Accra last Monday, Mr Kwabena Yeboah, President of the SWAG, named Portia Boakye, Samira Sulemana and Janet Egyiri as nominees for the Female Footballer of the Year category.

UK Athletics has called for world records to be wiped clean and drug cheats to be banned for at least eight years in radical proposals aimed at heralding a new unblemished era for the sport.

Its document "A Manifesto for Clean Athletics" was published on Monday, three days before the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is due to reveal the second half of its independent report into widespread doping in the sport.

Kemar Roofe scored twice as League Two Oxford knocked Premier League strugglers Swansea out of the FA Cup.

The in-form hosts recovered from Jefferson Montero's sublime strike to score either side of half-time.

Liam Sercombe levelled from the penalty spot before Roofe curled into the bottom corner from 20 yards.

Barcelona coach, Luis Enrique like his Bayern Munich counterpart, Pep Guardiola will be noticeable by his absence at today's FIFA-backed Ballon d'Or awards ceremony.

Enrique announced last Saturday he would skip FIFA's annual ceremony in Zurich despite his star player Lionel Messi being the hot favourite to be crowned Player of the Year.

Enrique, who guided the Catalan giants to five titles in 2015, is on the shortlist for coach of the year along with Guardiola, who is in Qatar at Bayern's winter training camp.

The third name in contention for manager of the year is Jorge Sampaoli, the Argentine who masterminded Chile's march to the Copa America title.

Novak Djokovic moved ahead for the first time in his long-running rivalry with Rafael Nadal when the world number one thrashed the Spaniard to win the Qatar Open in Doha last Saturday.

The Serb, appearing in his 16th consecutive final, won 6-1 6-2 in little more than an hour and now has 24 career victories over Nadal, compared to 23 for the former world number one.

Djokovic dominated 2015, winning three of the year's four grand slams, and already looks in the groove in the build-up to this month's Australian Open.

David Haye has ruled out fighting Tyson Fury this year and is instead aiming for a bout with Anthony Joshua as well as earning a shot at the WBC or IBF world heavyweight titles.

It has been three-and-a-half years since Haye (26-2, 24 KOs) last appeared in a professional ring and it was assumed he had retired after being forced to pull out of a fight against Fury in 2013 with a shoulder injury.

But Haye, 35, will fight again at the O2 Arena in London next Saturday, with claims that more than 14,000 tickets have already been sold for his comeback in a 12-round non-title bout.