Sports by FT9

The 59-year-old has refused to close the door on the Black Stars for good.   Former Ghana coach James Kwesi Appiah is not ruling out another stint with the Black Stars. The 59-year-old brought a two-year stint to an end on December 31, 2019 as the Ghana Football Association (GFA) decided against renewing his contract. It was his second spell in charge of the Black Stars following a first tenure between 2012 and 2014. ''I am a professional coach. I haven’t said I have resigned [from coaching]. If I come out to say that I am not coaching anymore that’s a different issue,'' Appiah told Graphic Sports in response to a question about whether he is open to a third Ghana stint. Following the expiration of his contract, Appiah has since been replaced by former Ghana and Wolfsburg captain CK Akonnor as Black Stars coach. “All I want to tell Akonnor is that he should be very firm in each decision that he takes," Appiah said. "He needs to gi

After playing in the Champions League earlier, the Ghana international is missing from Antonio Conte’s squad for the secondary European competition. Kwadwo Asamoah will not be playing for Inter Milan in the knockout stage of the Uefa Europa League this season. The 31-year-old was excluded from the selection on Monday while Nigeria’s Victor Moses made the 22-man team for the competition. Asamoah’s last outing for the Nerazzurri was against Roma on December 6 when he came on as a 72nd-minute substitute, and since then, he has been battling to regain match fitness after recovering from a knee injury. He was an unused substituted in Inter Milan’s 2-0 win over Udinese on Sunday and featured in three Champions League games before their eventual demotion to the Europa League. Meanwhile, Moses who reunited with Antonio Conte after completing a six-month loan from Chelsea in January, joins other new signings like Christian Eriksen and Ashley Young in the selection. The Nigerian midfielde

Africa has been identified as one of the leading exporters of football players to Europe and elsewhere, but gets little in return. Mr. Gianni Infantino - President of International Football Federation Association (FIFA) made this known on Monday, February 3, when he met over 300 journalists at the 83rd International Sports Press Association (AIPS) Congress in Budapest, Hungary. He said, Africa has not gained much from player exports due to the operations of some football agents who lure players to sign crazy contracts, whilst others are signed at a very tender age. According to the FIFA President, the operations of these agents have become a major worry to player transfers from Africa and there are plans to review commissions to agents as part of efforts to curb the menace. “We are going to reintroduce licensing of agents. You need to have some qualifications and qualities before becoming an agent. “We are going to cap the commissions, since some are too much. Henc