FANS COUGH-UP CASH... TO WATCH BLACK STARS TRAIN by Kweku Zurek @gskzurek on Twitter

Stranded fans loitering outside the Accra Stadium.

Black Stars fans who thronged the Accra Sports Stadium last Wednesday to watch the team train were left stranded outside the walls of the stadium after security personnel demanded they purchased tickets for the First Capital Plus Premier League clash between Accra Hearts of Oak and Inter Allies later in the day before they would be permitted into the stadium.
The  fans were caught off-guard as the security insisted they were only enforcing a directive from the Hearts management who feared the fans would remain in the stadium to watch the league match without paying.
An estimated  400 fans, eager to watch Ghana’s provisional World Cup squad at train, were compelled to pay GHc4 for the Hearts-Inter Allies match tickets to gain access to the stadium.

Muheeb Saeed, Public Relations Officer of Hearts, told Graphic Sports that tickets sale for last Thursday’s  28th week game was due to begin at 12 noon and if fans were allowed to have free access to the stadium before gates officially opened, attendance to the game would be disrupted.
“We are not cashing in on the Black Stars; our position is that it will be impossible to eject fans after the Stars finish training around 12.00pm. So we are asking the fans to co-operate by purchasing the tickets which entitle them to a Hearts reserve team clash against Allies and the league game itself,” he explained.
However the move backfired as a few fans stayed behind for the Hearts - Allies. Hearts won the game 1-0.

UNDERCARDS OF BANKU-POWERS JUDGEMENT NIGHT BILL BY Kweku Zurek

The undercards of the Bukom Banku-Ayitey Powers, Judgement Night bill which came-off last Thursday night at the Accra Stadium did not disappoint, with all six contests including a first round stoppage-ending in Technical Knock-Outs (TKO).
The night got-off to a brilliant start in the first bout of the night which saw nigerian boxer, Gifted Chiori who is based in the USA recording a sixth-round TKO over his Ghanaian opponent, Daniel Adjei Sowah in a bout that was scheduled for eight rounds.
The light middle weight bout between, Obodai Sai and Nigerian, Abolaji Rasheed continued in the same vein with Rasheed the aggressor. In round three, Rasheed opened a cut on Sai’s eyelid which bled profusely for the remainder of the fight.
But, Sai under the tutelage of Nii Djanie Kotey dominated the remaining rounds which sent Rasheed backing into the ropes. In one of such moments in round seven, Sai connected with a flurry of unanswered uppercuts and hooks but the Nigerian was saved by the bell.
However, Rasheed failed to respond to the bell for round 8 handing Sai the win by TKO.
In arguably the fight of the night; an eight round bantamweight contest between Manyo Plange and Albert Commey. The former olympian, Plange handed Commey a lesson in the sweet science of boxing. He constantly punched his opponent with cheeky ease while evading all his feeble attempts at being hit.
In round four, Plange continued to hararss his opponent, backing him into a corner and landing solid combinations. The bout came to an abrupt end when referee Michael Neequaye saved Commey from further punishment with the bout being ruled a TKO in favour of Plange.
The eight-round middle weight contest involving  Sadiq Musah and the undefeated, Ahmed Saraku ended abruptly in round one with the referee, Erasmus Owoo stopping the bout in one of several bizarre refereeing decisions which characterized the bill.
After Musah failed to respond to several powerful blows to his head from Saraku, referee Owoo stopped the bout to the displeasure of Musah who clearly wanted the fight to continue leaving Saraku to win by TKO.
The National Bantamweight Championships between Galley Cudjoe and Prince “Octopus” Djanie was marred by another contentious decision by referee Emmanuel Brenya which handed Dzanie victory in round 6 by TKO.
Cudjoe had earlier lost a point in round 2 for a low-blow with Djanie dominating the other rounds, the bout was however stopped by a combination of the referee and a towel thrown-in by Cudjoe’s corner.
In the last bout which preceded the entry of Bukom Banku and Ayittey Powers to the ring, Maxwell Amponsah landed a huge right hook to George Banson’s face which sent him sprawling onto the canvas ending their national light heavyweight championships bout.
Banson failed to recover from that blow with the fight being ruled a TKO victory for Amponsah.