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Five Ghana sports lows of the year

The country witnessed some very good wins while there were also some embarrassing outcomes. Pulse Sports writer, Thomas Freeman Yeboah has compiled the five bad sporting moments of Ghana sports in 2016

1. The Black Queens demonstration

The Queens after series of disappointments by the Ministry of Sports took to the streets of Accra to demonstrate.

They were owed $25,000 in winning bonuses and allowances which date back to 2015. The Black Queens who won bronze in the 2016 African Women’s Championship saw the need to express their dissatisfaction by displaying placards to send messages to government for their continued neglect of women football in the country.

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It was not the first time the Black Queens and the Ministry of Sports clashed over unpaid bonuses and allowances. Despite being the first senior national football team to qualify Ghana for the FIFA World Cup, they have been reduced to beggars.

2. The dwindle fortunes of the Black Stars

Coach Avram Grant’s charges have failed to win any of their last five games. The black Stars who have qualified for three consecutive FIFA World Cups are in danger of missing out on the 2018 Mundial in Russia. They drew goalless draw in Tamale and lost 0-2 against Egypt to place third in group E of the qualifiers after two games.

3. Ghana’s poor showing at the 2016 Olympics

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Team Ghana presented 16 athletes at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but none of them delivered the nation a medal and even failed to qualify to the next stage in the various events they competed. The only consolation for the nation was that the athletes were young and most of them improved on their personal best time during the Olympics and it makes the future bright.

READ MORE: AFCON 2017

4.Nii Lantey Vanderpuye vs Kwesi Nyantakyi: Clash of powers

The power clash between the Minister of Youth and Sports, Nii Lantey Vanderpuye and the President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kwesi Nyantakyi affected the running of football in Ghana. The two big wigs in football are at logger-heads and have been disagreeing on critical matters concerning football. The Sports Minister tagged the GFA as a corrupt institution and the GFA capo also responded by referring to Nii Lantey Vanderpuye as a loose talker. The poor start of the Black Stars to the FIFA World Cup qualifiers is partly attributed to the ill-relationship between Nyantakyi and Vaderpuye.

5. Demotion of Dreams FC to Division One for using an unqualified player

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The Kweiman based club were kicked out of the Ghana Premier league after one season in the topflight league. Tema Youth filed a protest against Dreams FC for fielding an unqualified player Daniel Gozar/Cudjoe Mensah two seasons ago in the GN National Division One League. However, the Disciplinary Committee and the Appeals Committee dismissed their case and allowed Dreams FC to participate in the Ghana Premier League, but Tema Youth, who were not satisfied with the decision took the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and they instructed the Ghana Football Association to reconstitute the Appeals Committee to sit on the case again.

The new Appeals Committee ruled the case in favour of Tama Youth and demoted Dreams FC to the First Division for using an unqualified player.

READ MORE: AFCON 2O17

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