Embattled Accra Hearts of Oak are likely to clash with arch rivals Kumasi Asante Kotoko in this year’s GHALCA Invitational tournament  after it appeared organisers had ‘smuggled’ the Phobians into the competition reserved for the top six Premier League sides.

Hearts are languishing at the 13th position after the Appeals Committee of the Ghana Football Association upheld an appeal by Kotoko over a decision to dock six points from their accumulated points over the fielding of an unqualified player in their league clash in Accra last season.

The decision to maintain Hearts in the inaugural six-club competition, according to the vice chairman of GHALCA, Isaac Koomson, was in conformity with the new regulations of the competition which is now christened GHALCA Invitational tournament.

When you are a player of Mesut Ozil’s stature and earns close to £140,000 each week and about £560,000 a month, splashing £169,000 just on one car would seem like a drop in the ocean.

Certainly that would do very little harm to the pocket of the ex-Real Madrid star, whose car collection includes a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi and Mercedes, among many others.

From a distance, the Arsenal star does not appears to be a hard core car freak but seeing the kind of automobiles he drives, one can easily understand the attention paid to details during the manufacturing of the cars.

The chairman of the Planning Committee of the refurbished Achimota Golf Course, Kwesi Amoafo Yeboah, says tomorrow’s Inaugural Open will be an epoch-making feat in the annals of Ghana golf.

He told the Daily Graphic that after a year’s work on the pitch by Paul McGinley Design, one of the finest golf course designers in the world, the course was ready to host the best golfers on the continent.

Among the over 200 golf players teeing off tomorrow at the Achimota Golf Course are 40 golfers from Nigeria, six from Gabon, three from Senegal, six from Togo who will battle for the trophy at stake and a South Africa Airways ticket to Washington and Johanessburg.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is celebrating the rise of its president, Issa Hayatou, to be president of world football (FIFA), even if it is for a brief moment.

Last Wednesday, members of the Executive Committee of CAF were joined by the Youth and Sports Minister of Egypt, Khaled Abdel Aziz to give Hayatou a celebratory welcome when he returned from his first official assignment as the acting FIFA president.

Last Monday, Hayatou was in Zurich to chair the FIFA ExCo meeting, during which he stressed that the reforms at the world football governing body were on course as it was necessary to save the beautiful game.

Former league champions, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, have completed two new signings this week despite being swerved by new sensation, Joel Fameyeh, of Division One side, Asokwa Deportivo.

Kotoko’s plan to sign on the home-based Black Stars hitman fell through after Deportivo opted for a potentially lucrative foreign deal much against Fameyeh’s initial desire to play for the Porcupine Warriors.

The General Manager of Kotoko, Samuel Opoku Nti, who revealed to the Graphic Sports yesterday that but for that last minute switch, the young striker was going to play for Kotoko next season.

Nuru Paadi Alhassan yesterday got his Cowbell Cycling League campaign off to a good start by claiming victory on the opening day of the race.

The Velo Stars rider sprinted to success in the 90-kilometre route which stretched from McCarthy Hill-Mango Line to the Winneba Roundabout and ended at the Accra Stadium.

The experienced 38-year-old cyclist beat Isaac Sackey and Kofi Newton to second and third place respectively in an exciting photo-finish.

League champions Ashantigold yesterday presented two trophies they won this season to Sir Sam Jonah, a former board chairman of the club, at an emotional ceremony in Accra.

The brief ceremony held at the Achimota Golf Club for the first time brought together some of the old executive members of the club, including Captain Andy Sam (retd), former CEO, and John Alexander Ackon, Deputy Minister of Women, Children and Social Protection and a former board member of the club.

Ghana will play the first leg of their 2018 FIFA World Cup (Preliminary Competition African Zone) qualifying match against Comoros on Friday, November 13.

The match has been scheduled for the Stade Said Mohamed Cheikh in Moroni at 15:00 p.m. local time.

The second leg will be played in Ghana on November 17.

Teshie Peniel (Salem) Presby Men’s Fellowship, led by Bro. Francis Boye Laryea, last Saturday bagged 17 points in the various disciplines to win this year’s Teshie District Presby Men’s Fellowship games held at the Teshie Camp 2 School grounds.

At the end, Aboma Presby Men’s Fellowship led by Bro. Michael Armah came second with ten points while Grace Presby Men’s Fellowship, led by Bro. Eward Neequaye came third with 9 points.

A Board member of Accra Hearts of Oak, Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, has described as “a sham”, the ruling last Tuesday by the GFA Appeals Committee to overturn an earlier verdict by the FA’s Disciplinary Committee to dock six points from Kumasi Asante Kotoko for fielding an unqualified player during their Premier League clash with Hearts in Accra.

The restoration of Kotoko’s six points resulted in positional changes on the league table as Kotoko jumped to the second spot behind champions AshantiGold while Hearts dropped from the fourth to the 13th spot on the log.

The GSP Basketball League reaches its mid-way stage on Saturday in Sunyani with eight clubs looking to lay a claim to the title.

This weekend’s sixth week games will be held at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) and Sunyani Polytechnic basketball courts.

Competing clubs are Catholic University Saints, UENR, West Siders, Desert Rabbits, Sunyani Poly, Suncity Braves, Barracks Scorpions, and Lir Royals.

Ghana’s home-based Black Stars have stepped up their preparation for the return encounter of the Championship of African Nations (CHAN) qualifier in Abidjan, after surviving an early scare to defeat their Ivorian counterparts 2-1 at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi last Sunday.

Two goals by Joel Fameyeh of Asokwa Deportivo, one in each half, saved the blushes of Maxwell Konadu’s charges, but the coach told the Daily Graphic he was still satisfied with the results even though he had wished for a 3-0 win to cushion the team for the return leg encounter.

Kumasi Asante Kotoko made a significant leap from sixth to second to restore joy among their faithful fans, pushing sworn-rivals Accra Hearts of Oak deep down from fourth to the 13th position after winning an appeal in respect of player Obed Owusu.

This was after the Appeals Committee of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) had upheld Kotoko’s appeal against an earlier ruling by the Disciplinary Committee on September 1.  

 The Appeals Committee, chaired by its vice chairman Alhaji Farouk Seidu, stated: “Having considered the various definitions ascribed to official matches we cannot but conclude that the Elite Clubs Cup Competition matches are for all intents and purposes official matches of the FA.’

Accra Hearts of Oak’s hope of landing Swedish Coach Tom Strand appears to have been blocked by Medeama FC who look unwilling to release the coach in spite of reports linking him to the Phobians.

In fact, indications were that Strand, who guided Medeama to win the MTN FA Cup a few weeks ago, was close to taking over the Phobians in a technical shakeup that would see former Hearts and Black  Stars winger Yaw ‘Rush’ Preko returning to his former club as assistant coach.

Preko told the Graphic Sports yesterday that he was excited at the prospects of returning to his mother club in a technical capacity but was still in talks with the Hearts management and had not signed any deal yet.

Aduana Stars have made a big splash in the player transfer market after grabbing two former Kumasi Asante Kotoko top stars Richard Mpong and Yahya Mohammed, among some other notable stars, ahead of the coming season.

The Dormaa-Ahenkro side finished in third place (after the restoration of Kotoko’s six points on appeal) in the First Capital Plus Plus Premier League and are strengthening their squad ahead of the next football season.