Johannesburg, 18 February 2021 - Team Qhubeka ASSOS have made a very strong start to the 2021 road racing season; one which Head Sports Director Lars Michaelsen says: “has exceeded realistic expectations”.

Team Qhubeka ASSOS (formerly NTT Pro Cycling) – Africa’s UCI WorldTour team – only secured its future in the final months of 2020 and as such, compared to many of our competitors, entered the new season rapidly assembling all of the critical parts to be fully operational, at the highest level, by the time that racing resumed in 2021.

The team has competed at Étoile de Bessèges and Tour de la Provence, showing some strong early season form with the culmination being a first victory for Team Qhubeka ASSOS by the European and Italian champion, Giacomo Nizzolo, in Clásica de Almería.

“The three races that we’ve been involved in, to kick off our season: Besseges, Provence and Almeria, all-in-all represents 10 race starts and two General Classifications. In total that is 12 classements, where Team Qhubeka ASSOS both have won one race and also secured another four top-10 places,” says Michaelsen. “If you consider some of the financial conditions that the team was in and from which we have built the roster, we could not realistically have expected those sorts of results so soon.”

The National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Lakers have appointed sports marketing agency Sportfive to secure the team’s next jersey patch sponsor.

The Lakers’ current partnership with Wish, which began in the 2017-18 season, expires at the end of the 2020-21 campaign.

In addition to the jersey patch, Sportfive will have the ability to secure up to three sponsorships with international-based brands for the Lakers through expanded global sponsorship rights that the NBA recently granted its teams.

Ghana U-20 coach, Karim Zito has expressed his side’s readiness to lift the flag of the country high at the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.

Ghana has been paired in Group C against Tanzania, Gambia, and Morocco but according to Zito, they are determined to make an impact at the tournament.

President Gianni Infantino has travelled to the capital of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Nouakchott for an audience with President of the Republic Mohamed Cheikh El Ghazouani. 

The FIFA President, accompanied by Mauritanian Football Federation (FFRIM) President Ahmed Yahya, discussed the country’s current successful hosting of the CAF U20 African Cup of Nations and the rapid progression of football development in Mauritania.

The meeting also highlighted the development in women’s football in Mauritania and the important investments that are being made in further promoting the sport across the country.

The 2023 Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the Africa Games (AG), to be hosted by Ghana, on Monday, paid a courtesy call on the Ghana News Agency (GNA), as part of efforts at building a strong working relationship with the media ahead of the games.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in December last year, inaugurated a nine-member LOC to commence preparations towards the hosting of the 13th African Games in 2023.

The team, led by Dr, Kwaku Ofosu-Asare, a Lecturer at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, a Sports Enthusiast and onetime Administrator and Human Resource Manager of Ashanti Goldfield Company Limited, said the visit was to establish a “two-way traffic relationship with the Ghana News Agency to achieve the national agenda”.

“We are here to build a relationship so that you would have a fair knowledge of what is expected from the LOC for the Games. Our doors would be opened to call for clarity when needed.

"We want to achieve this national project with you and also to fraternise and have a two-way traffic relationship to ensure that we achieve this national project together.

“You have come far in Journalism and we know you have the pedigree to help us achieve this national project,” the Team Lead said.

"With our mandate to organise the Games, we can’t achieve it without engaging the media. GNA is the trailblazer when we talk about Journalism in the country,” he said.

Major League Soccer today announced an update to the MLS club preseason report dates.  With the MLS regular season kicking off the weekend of April 17, MLS players will report on March 1 for a seven-day quarantine period, medical exams, and testing prior to the team training start date on March 8.  The new preseason report date allows for six weeks of training before Major League Soccer’s 26th season kicks off.
 
Players may begin their seven-day quarantine period prior to March 1 on a voluntary basis. In such cases, players may conduct individual training during the quarantine period, or may engage in group training following the seven-day quarantine period provided that each player has conducted medical exams and testing.  Technical staffs and coaches may not be present during group trainings prior to March 1.

The Democratic Republic of Congo will thus receive the recognition of the world governing body of rugby

The Federal Committee of the Congolese Rugby Federation (FecoRugby) (www.FeCoRugby.org) is very grateful to Rugby Africa for initiating the process to obtain its affiliation as an associate member of World Rugby.

This long term work led by World Rugby Representative in Africa, Steph Nel, and by Rugby Africa should lead to a successful outcome at the next meeting devoted to this issue by World Rugby.

England is one of the biggest footballing nations in the world both in terms of viewership and participation. Home of arguably the most competitive domestic football league in the world, the English Premier League, and a national side that regularly qualifies for the prestigious World Cup, Football is the most popular spectator sport in England. However, According to data presented by Safe Betting Sites, in 2020, football participation in England has dropped by 18.8% since 2016.

During his visit to the 30th International Boxing Tournament (Adriatic Pearl), AIBA President Mr. Umar Kremlev held an official meeting with presidents of National Federations of Balkan countries.

The aim of the meeting is to ensure tight connection between National Federations of Balkan countries and AIBA, to discuss directly global reforms initiated by International Boxing Association. The association has already managed to create new Committees, renewed membership policy for National Federations and adopted Communication strategy based on the principles of full transparency.

Mr. Kremlev claimed that the unity should be the keynote of the boxing development worldwide, including in Balkans. 

President Gianni Infantino has arrived in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the first stop on an itinerary that will see him visit FIFA member associations in several African countries along with heads of state and African Union (AU) Chairperson Félix Tshisekedi over the coming days.

Upon arrival, the FIFA President was welcomed by the President of the Mauritanian Football Federation (FFRIM) Ahmed Yahya, and travelled to the Stade Municipal de Nouadhibou to officially inaugurate the venue which was featuring a new artificial turf pitch that received FIFA Forward support.

“We have enjoyed some impressive youth football in a modern and well-equipped stadium which is a very good and concrete example of how FIFA Forward funds are used to develop football all over the world, and particularly in Africa,” the FIFA President said following the inauguration, which was also attended by Taleb Ould Sid´Ahmed, the Mauritanian Minister of Employment, Youth and Sports.

Fabrice Zango’s overall performance in January was more than fabulous, especially the 18.07 m (59 ft 3 1⁄4 in) he jumped at a world indoor meet in Aubière, France, on January 16, 2021.

With the jump, he surpassed Teddy Tamgho’s 17.92m indoor record to become the current World Indoor Record holder. Incidentally, Tamgho is his coach.
​

Born Richard Anthony Allen in Wampum, Pennsylvania, he was one of America's National League most feared sluggers of the 1960s and early 1970s. After Jackie Robinson paved the way for black representation in the MLB, Dick Allen broke in with power that made him an undeniable force in the League.

As a young kid growing up in Wampum, Allen was athletic, taking part in several sports: He used to hit stones with a broomstick, practicing imaginary baseball, pretending he was playing for the Dodgers - a team he later went on to represent; he reached the state championship for three consecutive years as a high school student with the Wampum basketball team. But it would be baseball that owned him. His religious mother, Era Allen, believed he was born for the sport.

He was regarded as an enigmatic star whose penchant for off-field controversy rivaled his on-field baseball skills. He was reputed as an unmanageable loner.

On his return to the ring since 2019, Ghanaian boxer, Richard Commey, defeated Jackson Marinez for a closer shot at a title in the Lightweight division.
 

​Kamaru Usman of Nigeria successfully defended his UFC welterweight title with a Technical knockout of Brazilian opponent and former teammate, Gilbert Burns, at UFC 258.
 
Usman’s victory dashed the young man’s dream of becoming the first Brazilian to win the UFC welterweight title.
The fight took place on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas with Covid-19 protocols in place.
 
Usman, 33, finished off Burns at 34 seconds of the third round to defend the title for the fourth successive time since winning it at UFC 235 in March 2019.
 

Every heritage has ancestry behind it. Before FloJo, there was once a black female athlete who dominated the mid-20th century as the fastest woman on earth and she was named Wilma Glodean Rudolph, born on June 23, 1940, in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee.

Our day 13 icon for Black History Month is the world's first fastest woman and first black woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympics.

Wilma overcame a sickly childhood to become the world's most successful and most influential African-American female athlete at the 1960 Olympic Games.

She suffered from consequences of being born premature with inflictions of illnesses like pneumonia, scarlet fever, and infantile paralysis (polio) which she contracted when she was five.

Despite the childhood maladies, she grew up to become America's athletic "leading lady" and a "queen," with feminine beauty and poise, nicknamed in different tongues and languages: The Italians nicknamed her "La Gazzella Nera" ("The Black Gazelle") and the French called her "La Perle Noire" ("The Black Pearl").

Until she was 12 years old, Wilma was physically disabled in her left leg and foot. For much of her early life, she wore a leg brace and an orthopedic shoe. She and her mother made 80km weekly travels from Clarksville to Nashville for treatment to help regain strength in the weakened leg.

Through the help of doctors at the historically black Meharry Medical College, and four times a day at-home massage treatments from family members, she overcame the debilitating effect of polio and walked unaided by the time she was 12.

The world's first ever black heavyweight champion, John Arthur Johnson, aka 'Jack Johnson, aka 'The Galveston Giant', punched a living out of his opponents who were mostly white in smirk of racism.

On Black History Month Day 12, we recognize and celebrate the memories and achievements of Jack Johnson, the world’s first Black Heavyweight boxing champion. 

His ring fights were not just counts for boxing victories but kick against racism during the Jim Crow era in the United States. He never saw white men as superior to him.

Widely regarded as the one of the most influential boxers of all time, the boxing legend reigned as heavyweight champion from 1908 to 1915.

The third of nine children born to former slaves, Henry and Tina Johnson on March 31, 1878 (13 years after the abolition of slave trade), in the city of Galveston, Texas, Johnson grew up with white friends and families around him, therefore never felt inferior. His boxing career was inspired by a white employer, Walter Lewis.

Johnson would later attribute his boxing success to coaching from Choynski, a popular and experienced white boxer he fought in a ring and in a jail cell. They both became long life friends.

His reputation made him one of the early 20th century’s most dominant champions.

He was reputed for dating and marrying white women at a time that black men were lynched for even looking a white woman in the eye.
The consequence of such reputation was such that he became a victim of government attacks.

William Felton Russell, popularly known as Bill Russell, the 1956 Olympic gold medal winning captain of the US National basketball team is regarded as one of the best ever players in NBA history that in his 13-year professional playing, he won 11 championships with the Boston Celtics and was the centerpiece for the club.

This Black History Month Day 11, we recognize and celebrate the legacy of Bill Russell, America's first NBA black coach.

Russell became player-coach of the Celtics during the 1966-1969 season thereby becoming the first black coach in the records of the NBA.

Born in a largely segregated American southern area of Monroe, Louisiana, Russell grew up experiencing what racism was at its core. His father, Charles Russell and mother, Kate Russell, were constantly assaulted by whites. One time, Kate was forced by a white policeman to return home and take off a fancy dress she was wearing because he thought it was 'white woman's clothing'. Charles had a gun pointed to his head for wanting to leave a gas station after the white attendant refused to attend to him until he was finished attending to other whites who came after him.

Sadly, Russell lost his mother at 12 but he found a new hero in his father from whom he learnt that "a man has to draw a line inside himself that he won't allow any man to cross."

As a young kid in California (his family settled in Oakland, California when he was 8), Russell was gifted in sporting activities: He was a good runner, a fine jumper and had large hands but he struggled to develop his skills as a basketball player - he simply did not understand the game at that time that he was cut from his junior high school team; he always struggled with free throws and was not such a good shooter.

Words of assurance and encouragement from his white coach at McClymonds High School, George Powles, inspired him to work on his fundamentals. He worked hard and used the benefits to become a decent basketball player that he began to excel, winning back-to-back high school state championships.

Although he was multi-skilled in sports, Russell saw basketball as his chance of escaping poverty and racism and he did everything to make the best of it - he took every opportunity to become one of the most successful and decorated athletes in North American sports.
Playing college basketball with the University of San Francisco basketball team revealed what his professional career was going to look like.

At USF, he became a starting center; lacking bulkiness, his combined stature, shot-blocking skills and foot speed made him the centerpiece of a dominant college team that went on a string of 55 consecutive victories with two NCAA Championships to show (1955 and 1956). Russell averaged 20.7 points and 20.3 rebounds per game throughout his college career.

He also represented USF in high jump, ranking as the seventh best jumper in the world in 1956 with 2.03m (6 feet, 9-quarter).

Ghana midfielder Enoch Kofi Adu has completed a free agent move to Swedish Allsvenskan side Mjällby AIF.

The 30-year-old – who enjoyed a successful three-year stint with giants AIK – had to leave at the end of the 2020 season after the Stockholm-based club passed on the chance to offer him a new contract. He played 77 matches during the spell.

And Mjällby have moved in to land the services of the 2008 Swedish league winner in a deal that will last until the 2022 season.

The club announced Monday: “Mjällby AIF has finished with experienced 30-year-old Enoch Kofi Adu. The midfielder comes most recently from AIK and has signed a contract until the 2022 season.”

Ghana international Richmond Boakye Yiadom, 28 has moved to Polish Ekstraklasa side, Gornik Zabrze.

The former Juventus attacker after seeing out his contract with Red Star Belgrade at the end of 2020 agreed to end his stay at the Serbian club to pursue a different challenge elsewhere.

After successful talks between representatives of the Richmond player and officials, he joined Gornik Zabrze for the rest of the 2020/2021 football season.

Ghana best Swimmer, Abeiku Jackson has landed in Kazakhstan to start his one year education scholarship from FINA.

Great Thanks to the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) under Ben Nunoo Mensah, the Ghana Swimming Association led by Theo Edzie and FINA, the world body controlling swimming.

Scheduled from April 21 to May 1 in Moscow (Russia), the International Arab Boxing Gala will record the participation of several African boxers.

Eric Richard Ella Békalé recently announced the forthcoming holding of the first international Arab boxing gala. The former president of the Gabonese kickboxing federation, current president of the African Arab Boxing Federation (FABA), also took this opportunity to invite Africans to take part in this great competition, which nourishes the ambition of unite the entire planet around this young federation, but a promising sporting discipline.

Ghana defender Alexander Djiku has been voted Strasbourg player of the month for January.

The 27-year-old has been impressive for the French Ligue side throughout the man of January.

Djiku’s consistency since the start of the year has been rewarded with the prestigious award.

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has agreed a two-year partnership deal with Kasapreko Company Limited as an official partner of the senior national team, the Black Stars.

The relationship commenced on February 1, 2021 and will see the ‘Awake’ brand of the company as the “Official Water Partner of the Black Stars”.

The 2021 OA Special Invitational Golf Championship will tee-off at the Tema Country Golf Course on Saturday, February 13.

Mr Kwadwo Antwi Boateng, the General Manager of the Tema Country Golf Club said about 120 golfers were expected to participate in the competition which commemorates with the birthday of Mr. Felix Owusu-Adjapong, a former Minister of State.

He expressed that the one-day event which is being sponsored by VOLTIC Mineral Water and Frontier MSS Limited, will be played in Men’s Scratch, Group ‘A’ and ‘B’, Seniors 65 years and above as well as Elders 75 years and above.

​On an evening of stunning middle-distance performances at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais, Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay produced the highlight by taking two seconds off the world indoor 1500m record*, winning at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in 3:53.09.

The world bronze medallist followed the swift early tempo as the pacemaker led the field through 400m in 58.97 and 800m in 2:05.94. With three laps to go, Tsegay had a four-second lead over double European indoor champion Laura Muir but she showed no signs of slowing down, passing through 1000m in 2:37.36.