A lot has happened this year in all sectors. Stretching from parliamentary debates to economic hardships as well as major trials in court. Nevertheless, sports stole the headlines on a number of occasions. An interesting Ghana Premier League season came to an end after an AFCON tournament full of surprises. The World Cup even intensified it with an intriguing series of events in Qatar.
In all of this, 3news.com walked you through the journey and we are enthused to give you a recap of that. Here is a review of our Top 10 sports stories for the year 2022.
Ghana record worst AFCON performance
It was one of Ghana’s darkest moments in history as far as football is concerned as the Black Stars bowed out of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations held in Cameroon.
Ghana lost to Morocco in their group opener and drew 1-1 with Gabon which presented them a chance to qualify to the next level provided they avoided defeat in the last group game against Comoros. However, Ghana lost 3-2 after Andre Ayew was sent off following a reckless tackle on the Comoros goalkeeper in the first half.
The exit was Ghana’s first in the group phase since 2006 and Ghana’s worst ever in terms of results and total points won in an AFCON tournament.
- Ayew appears in Parliament over Black Stars’ poor Afcon
Ghana beat Nigeria to qualify for a fourth World Cup
Having missed out in 2018, the Black Stars beat Nigeria with an away goal advantage to qualify for the 2022 World Cup which was held in Qatar.
Ghana had gone through thick and thin in the qualifying series including a controversial 1-0 win over South Africa in the first stage of qualifications.
Otto Addo who had taken over from Milovan Rajevac managed to turn Ghana’s atrocious story around with assistance from George Boateng, Mas-Ud Didi Dramani and Chris Houghton.
Following a scoreless draw at the Kumasi Stadium, Ghana managed another 1-1 draw at the Moshood Abiola stadium. Thomas Partey’s first-half goal was cancelled by William Troost-Ekong from a spot kick but it was enough to hand Ghana a place in the World Cup group stage.
- I’m happy Black Stars are going to World Cup in my time – Akufo-Addo
AshGold and Inter Allies demoted
The two Ghana Premier League teams were found guilty over a match-fixing scandal following a thorough investigation by the Disciplinary Committee of the GFA.
Inter Allies player, Hashmin Musah came off the bench to score two deliberate own goals to crush an alleged fixed scoreline on Matchday 34 of the 2020-21 season.
Inter Allies were charged with two counts of misconduct for breaching Article 34, whilst Ashgold were charged with three counts of misconduct for breaching the same article.
- Ashgold and Inter Allies appeals dismissed
Yaw Annor equals GPL record
Aside from the race for the title, top four and battle for survival in the relegation zone, the Ghana Premier League served football fans with an intense goal king race between AshGold’s Yaw Annor and Cameroonian import Franck Etouga Mbella of Asante Kotoko.
Over 40 goals were recorded between the two forwards but none of them were able to break Ishmael Addo’s most goals in a season(22). Yaw Annor was the nearest to achieve that, as he matched the record. The 25-year-old scored a brace on the final day against Bibiani Gold Stars to reach 22 goals.
Meanwhile, Frank Mbella who had missed the first five matches for Kotoko sealed his place in the team and also scored 21 goals. Despite losing the battle to Yaw Annor, his goals were vital to the success of Kotoko as they clinched their first league title in eight years.
- Yaw Annor regrets not scoring more than 22 goals
CAF bans Black Maidens
The U-17 female national team of Ghana were suspended from two tournaments after the GFA failed to defend the accusation of age fraud levelled against them by Morocco.
The team were reportedly maltreated during their qualification battle with Morocco who eventually qualified on penalties but later filed a complaint against two Ghanaian players who were believed to have forged their birthdays to make them eligible for the tie.
The ban means the Black Maidens will not be allowed to participate in the next two U-17 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
- Ghana banned from U-17 Women’s World Cup over age fraud
Deborah Acquah makes history in Birmingham
Deborah Acquah made history by winning Ghana’s first medal in the long jump at the Commonwealth Games after finishing third.
Despite arriving late due to visa issues, the 26-year-old managed to reach the finals 48 hours after her arrival and later recorded a leap of 6.94 meters.
She finished behind Ese Brume of Nigeria who placed first and Australia’s Brooke Buschkuehl with a leap of 7.00 and 6.95 meters respectively.
- I was thinking of silver – Bronze medallist Deborah Acquah reveals
Ghana disqualified
Just after Ghana had begun recording positive outcomes at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, a technical error cost them.
The 4×100 men’s relay team had strived hard to qualify for the finals following a third-place finish in the semis. Meanwhile, the technical team failed to inform authorities of a change in the running order, which meant Ghana flouted the rules prior to the final.
Joseph Paul Amoah who was preparing for the 200 meters final was rested and replaced by Sean Safo Antwi to run the anchor leg but officials were not informed of the substitution which resulted in Ghana’s disqualification.
The Ghana Athletics Association later issued an apology to all Ghanaians and the athletes for the team’s unfortunate incident.
- Sports Minister requests report on Ghana’s disqualification from 4x100m final
Joseph Paul Amoah wins bronze
Just a day after the awkward disqualification, Joseph Paul Amoah gave Ghanaians something to smile about once more. The sprinter’s electric run made him the first man to win a medal in 200 meters for Ghana since 1974 as he finished third in the final.
The last man to have achieved that was George Kofi Daniels who won silver 48 years ago.
Joseph Paul Amoah started the journey with a win in his heat to qualify for the semi-final before finishing second to book a place in the final.
He finished behind Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards and Zharnel Hughes of England.
Ghana ended the games with five medals (two silver and three bronze).
- A bronze medal that finds a place in history: The story of Joseph Paul Amoah
Ghana fail to get revenge against Uruguay as World Cup ends early
The Black Stars blew a double chance of both staging revenge against Uruguay and qualifying beyond the group stage of the 2022 World Cup as Ghana succumbed to a 2-0 defeat to the South American side.
Ghanaians had in mind a 12-year-ago quarter-final incident between the two sides where Luis Suarez stopped a goal-bound header from Dominic Adiyiah with his hand. An action which presented Ghana with an opportunity to score from the spot that they missed and eventually lost on shootouts.
Unfortunately, captain Andre Ayew missed another penalty kick for Ghana, which depressed the team and led to the team’s elimination from the World Cup after they later gave up two goals.
- Andre Ayew’s daughter fine after collapsing due to penalty miss
Morocco makes history as first African side to reach World Cup semis
Africa’s record at the World Cup was bettered following Morocco’s exploits at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The Atlas Lions beat Belgium and Canada to top their group and also shocked both Spain and Portugal in the knockout stage to become the first African nation to reach the semi-finals.
Their achievement supersedes that of Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana who all got eliminated after reaching the quarter-finals in 1990, 2002 and 2010 respectively.
Morocco, despite giving France a run for their money, succumbed to a 2-0 defeat in the semi-final owing to their wastefulness in front of goal.
France proceeded to the final but lost to Argentina on penalties after an enthralling 3-3 draw. The Argentines had lost their opening game to Saudi Arabia but bounced back to win the ultimate jackpot after chasing it for 36 years.
- What Ghana can learn from Morocco – Michael Oti Adjei
Compiled by Frank Appiah|3new.com|Ghana
