On this day 18 August 2015 (Exactly 5 years ago today) Kwesi Nyantakyi was
re-elected as President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) for the third time.
Nyantakyi went unopposed after the other contestants, Ofeibia Ramatu and George Ankomah, failed to submit their nominations before the stipulated deadline.
Background
An injunction from an attorney by name John Quayson threatened to halt the election on the grounds that the hierarchy of the Ghana Football Association have shown disregard for its rules by failing to hold district and regional elections before its presidential elections.
In defense the GFA sought to have the case thrown out on the grounds that the plaintiff John Quayson was not a member of the Association and thus had no locus to bring such a case against them.
On August 14th 2015 An Accra High Court dismissed all 5 charges brought against the Ghana Football Association by John Quayson paving the way for congress to go ahead with the elections.
In a last ditch attempt to halt the elections John Quayson filed another writ on 14th August 2015 this time through Enoch Tekpetey and Odorkor Kwashieman Football Club.
The failure of John Quayson to serve the writ to any member of the GFA meant that it was not legally binding paving the way for the elections to take place. Confident Kwesi Arriving early at the venue , Kwesi Nyantakyi revealed that he was happy at the opportunity to steer the affairs of Ghana football for another five years.
“I am happy about what is about to happen here today and I am looking forward to the event. We are looking forward to many reforms, many changes and various developments which will have a positive impact on the development of our game.”
“We will all gain in the next four years so I hope that we all work towards this with a common goal, he added.
Elsewhere;
On this day 18 August 2000 (Exactly 20 years ago today) American Maurice Greene won the men’s 100 meters in a modest 10.01 at the IAAF Golden League in Monaco. Obadele Thompson of Barbados crossed second in 10.06, while Ghana’s Abdul Aziz Zakari was the surprise third in 10.13.
Men 100m
1.Maurice Greene, United States, 10.01
- Obadele Thompson, Barbados, 10.06
- Abdul Aziz Zakari, Ghana, 10.13.
4.Dwain Chambers, Britain, 10.18. - Darren Campbell, Britain, 10.19.
6.Tim Montgomery, United States, 10.20. 7.Deji Aliu, Nigeria, 10.32. - David Patros, France, 10.33
On this day 18 August 2013 (Exactly 7 years ago today ) The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athleticsnwas closed in Moscow, Russia. A total of 47 sets of medals were distributed between 38 countries.
Initially, host nation Russia topped the medal table with seven gold medals. However, after disqualification of Russian sprinter Antonina Krivoshapka and following redistribution of medals in the Women’s 4 × 400 metres relay, United States topped the medal table with seven golds. In the overall medal count, the United States won 26 medals in total, followed by Russia with 14 and Kenya with 12
On this day 18 August 1958 (Exactly 62 years ago today ) Floyd Patterson knocked out Roy Harris in round 12 of 15 at the Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A to retain the Ring and World heavyweight titles.
NB: Patterson competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1956 to 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in history to win the title, and was also the first heavyweight to regain the title after losing it. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Although Mike Tyson later became the youngest boxer to win a world heavyweight title at the age of 20, Patterson remains the youngest to hold the undisputed title. Both Tyson and Patterson were trained by Cus D’Amato.
On this day 18 August 1964(Exactly 56 years ago today ) South Africa was barred from taking part in the 18th Olympic Games in Tokyo over its refusal to condemn apartheid.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the decision in Lausanne, Switzerland, after South Africa failed to meet an ultimatum to comply with its demands by 16 August.
The IOC originally withdrew South Africa’s invitation to Japan during the winter games in Innsbruck, Austria.
It said the decision could be overturned only if South Africa renounced racial discrimination in sport and opposed the ban in its own country on competition between white and black athletes.
Although the South Africans announced in June they would be including seven non-whites in their team of 62 Olympic hopefuls – the move did not go far enough for the IOC.
On 26 June, the committee gave South Africa one last chance to make the declaration within 50 days or face the ban.
The IOC said nothing short of a public announcement made in the newspapers and on the radio renouncing all racial discrimination in sport would be acceptable.
Committee secretary Otto Meyer said at the time he did not believe the South Africans would have a change of heart.
In fact the South African Amateur Athletic Union subsequently pulled out of a British athletics meeting in June in protest at the IOC’s ultimatum.
The union, which was to have sent a team of nine white and two black South Africans, accused the IOC of introducing politics into sport.
The South African refusal to condemn apartheid drew further condemnation before the games.
At the Wimbledon tennis championships in London at the end of June, there were protests against South African policy. Several players scheduled to meet South Africans pulled out of the competition.
On this day 18 August 2016 (Exactly 4 years ago today) Usain Bolt won the men’s 200m to claim his second Rio 2016 gold, his eighth at an Olympics.
The Jamaican ran 19.78 seconds to come home ahead of Canada’s Andre de Grasse and France’s Christophe Lemaitre.
Britain’s Adam Gemili clocked the same time as Lemaitre, but was denied his first Olympic medal in a photo finish.
On this day 18 August 2004 (Exactly 16 years ago today) US women’s 4 × 200m freestyle relay team of Natalie Coughlin, Carly Piper, Dana Vollmer & Kaitlin Sandeno smash long-standing world record set by East Germany in 1987 to win gold at the Athens Olympics (7:53.42)
On this day 18 August 2004 (Exactly 16 years ago today) Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima wrapped up the 100/200m breaststroke double at the Athens Olympics when he won the 200m in 2:09.44, an Olympic record.
On this day 18 August 2008 (Exactly 12 years ago today) Russian pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva set a new world record of 5.05m to win the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics; her 24th world record.
On this day 18 August 2008 (Exactly 12 years ago today) There was an American 1-2-3 in the 400m hurdles at the Beijing Olympics; Angelo Taylor won gold in 47.25 ahead of Kerron Clement and Bershawn Jackson.
On this day 18 August 2008 (Exactly 12 years ago today) Emulating the Chinese women, the men won the team table tennis gold medal at the Beijing Olympics without losing a match; won all 10 singles and all 5 doubles matches.
On this day 18 August 2008 (Exactly 12 years ago today) Belarus weightlifter Andrei Aramnau broke 3 world records, for the snatch, clean & jerk, and total, on the way to winning the men’s 105kg gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
By: George ‘Alan Green’ Mahamah
