Ghana will be among the more than 160 nations at the 29th Olympiad in Beijing, China beginning August 8 2008. It will be Ghana’s 12th participation in the Olympic Games dating back from the XVTH Games in Helsinki, Finland in 1952 .Ghana will be competing in athletics and boxing.

Between now and the start of the Games I would like to provide a historic account of Ghana’s record at the four year interval sports extravaganza but first lets have a brief history of how the Olympic Games started.

Sports historians say the original Olympic Games were founded in 776 BC and according to tradition were held at Olympia every four years without a single break until at least AD 261. The modern Olympic Games were started in 1896 in Athens by a Frenchman Pierre de Fredy Baron de Coubertin, who was born in Paris on Ist January 1863.

Though an elitist, Coubertin was not a wholly typical French aristocrat of his time. He foresaw a day when young men from the lower class might share his new ideology of physical exercises and games. He had a strong belief that a revived Olympic festival would further the cause of international understanding, brotherhood and peace.

By 1894 Coubertin had made sufficient progress in his plans to revive the Olympics and he summoned an international conference in Paris and the Sorbonne "to study and propagate the principles of amateurism".

He then set off for Greece and in October of that year he visited Olympia for the first time in his life. Two years later in 1896, the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens.

Practical considerations of access and facilities for both athletes and spectators ruled Olympia out. Athens provided a new stadium with seating capacity of nearly 50,000 There were 42 events in ten sports disciplines with 285 participants all men and without team competitions except gymnastics.

Coubertin’s efforts had come to fruition and he remained president of the International Olympic Committee until the completion of the 1924 Games in Paris.

Since 1896, the Games have followed a tradition of being celebrated every four years. Infact the Games cannot under any circumstances be postponed to another date. If they are not held, the number of the Olympiad remains. This was the case in 1916 (V1th Olympiad) 1940 and 1944(X11th and X111th Olympiads) when the games were not celebrated apparently due to the world wars.

The four year interval was decided by the founder mainly in remembrance of the Ancient Games that observed this regular cycle and also he rightly predicted the huge expenses and difficulties involved in organizing such a world wide festival.

The Centenary Olympics were celebrated in Atlanta USA in 1996. The 2008 Games in Beijing will be the 29th Olympiad.

The 2007-2008 Premier Football league of Ghana may have officially ended on Sunday July 6th but judging from the not too past history of this national pastime the end is yet to come. The relegation exercise has always created problems and there have been several instances when the system had to be varied to save certain clubs. We have it on record that at one stage the relegation was completely scrapped and the explanation was that it was in the national interest. "It is a national league and must cover the entire nation" went the argument.

Currently there is the thorny issue two clubs in the relegation zone Zaytuna and Tema Real Sportive that must be settled before we can see our way clear for the next season.

Real Sportive has given notice of an appeal against the deduction of points from their build up and the subsequent award of three points to Zaytuna following a protest against Real Sportive for allegedly fielding an unqualified player in their match on June 18 which Sportive won 1-0. The talk in town is why the protest was so delayed and the points awarded to Zaytuna at the tail end of the league when relegation was in sight.

Isaac Benson, Chief Executive of Sportive says his club also has a protest against Tema Youth for fielding an unqualified player Abdel Ganiyu and has promised to pursue those two issues to their logical conclusion Even though it is doubtful if Sportive can escape relegation even if they won the appeals they could simply follow the bad example set by certain clubs in the past and disturb the peace of the Football Association by going to court if a clear cut decision is not made to end the dispute

I recall what happened in 1984 when the start of the league was delayed and Neoplan Stars from Kumasi unceremoniously lost their premier division status following a court injunction by Bolgatanga Upper United. Eventually the original 12 club league had to go ahead with 11 clubs.

Bolgatanga Upper United had argued in court that they qualified from the middle league to play in the top division and not Neoplan Stars. The Football Association apparently was not interested in playing football in the law courts and the case could not be resolved until the end of the competition. Neoplan were deemed to have technically lost all their matches and were subsequently placed last on the league table and of course relegated.

As I often say Ghana football has gone past those hellish days but in order to set the records straight the Football Association should as early as possible publish the official league table and tell the nation which clubs will face relegation and close the chapter on the season.

Meanwhile it would be interesting to find out the reason for the complete blackout in the print media about the rowdy scenes that characterized the titanic battle of survival league match between Real Tamale United and Zaytuna at Sunyani on Sunday July 6. Live radio commentary described how referee Mercy Tagoe was attacked by irate Zaytuna players when Real Tamale United got their equalising goal after Zaytuna had taken the lead. The live reports vividly described how the referee ably defended herself with a series of excellent karate movements of the body.

The live commentary told listeners Tamale United’s winning goal nearly brought the game to an abrupt end as crowd violence erupted but it was blank in the sporting press. This is strange.

It is hoped that the Football Association were able to send TV cameras and independent observers to the match as promised.

If TV coverage confirms any hooliganism on and off the pitch the Football Association should not hesitate to take the appropriate sanctions.. FIFA is very much concerned about crowd violence that invariably leads to unnecessary loss of lives.

The experts say history does repeat itself in football and that is the reason why the Ghana Football Association should take precautionary measures to avoid a repetition of the bizarre end experienced in the national premier league 16 years ago. The 1992 league in question, like the current one started brilliantly but three final round matches spoiled the beauty of an otherwise exciting tournament.

The 2007/2008 league is ending this weekend (Sunday July 6) and some of the fixtures involving relegation threatened clubs have the same ingredients that conspired to give the 1992 a bad reputation. Top of the list is the match between Dansoman based Zaytuna and Real Tamale United This is an explosive pairing and both clubs need the points like mad. Whilst the Tamale team, 11th in the league table with 35 points, need only a draw to escape relegation Zaytuna, third from the bottom with 33 points, would have to win to make their stay in the top division a reality. You cannot have a more controversial match than this.

There is already some controversy surrounding the venue of the match. The Coronation Park at Sunyani is a neutral ground instead of the original Dansoman home venue for Zaytuna who are serving a home ban for crowd violence. Indeed a couple of days ago Zaytuna had been touted as firm candidates for relegation but they gratuitously earned three points courtesy a protest against Real Sportive for fielding an unqualified player in their match played on June 18 which Zaytuna lost 1-0. This has boosted their morale and they are bent on giving the Tamale wizards a tough time. Their demand for fair officiating is in the right direction but it is unsporting to introduce tribal sentiments in the selection of match officials. One does not necessarily have to be from the Northern region to be a supporter of Real Tamale United and they should avoid that bad habit of picking and choosing where match officials should hail from. FIFA frowns on this and wants respect given to match officials.

The points awarded on a silver platter to Zaytuna have put Real Sportive in a tight corner as their points build-up have whittled to 30.but they are lucky to face a side not in any critical need for points. No wonder their match against undisputed league runners up Kpandu Heart of Lions at El Wak Stadium is being touted as a fixture that could lack its competitive elements.

In contrast good old campaigners Sekondi Hasaacas , 4th from bottom, with 34 points are not all that safe from relegation and they need victory over Kessben to make assurance doubly sure of premier division football next season.

As stated earlier these fixtures reminds one of a similar scenario in the 1992 season At this stage 16 years ago, Real Tamale United, on the brink of relegation surprisingly thrashed relegation doomed Kumasi Cornerstone 5-0 in Tamale which ignited a rigmarole. The directors of Cornerstone came out publicly to declare that it had no knowledge of the team traveling to Tamale to honour the match. A statement issued by the directors after the match said the entire playing body had in the week prior to the match boycotted training .A decision had therefore been taken not to honour the match because it was obvious "we could not raise a formidable team"

The statement alleged that Alhaji Karim Grunsah, a long time supporter of Corners, went round and managed to gather some reserve players of the club to play the match without the knowledge of the board. The directors then appealed to the Football Association to declare the result of the match null and void .The Football Association however maintained the results It was a real controversial issue and opinions were varied.

The snag was that Cornerstones were then firmly in the relegation zone with Akwatia Diamond Stars and Real Tamale United needed a good win to pip Okwahu United and Voradep by superior goal aggregate and that what they did.

If Cornerstone had failed to honour the match Real Tamale United would have been credited with the points all right plus two goals but they needed more goals. The talk in town was that some interested factions had to stop the Kumasi team from honouring the match in order to ditch Real Tamale United that had to ensure that the match was played presumably on their terms. In a later development the Football Association fined the directors of Cornerstones jointly and severally for their complicity in the whole murky affair.

Two other final round matches in 1992 were tainted. The Afienya- Great Olympics encounter at Accra stadium was so drab that on three occasions the fans registered their protest by capturing the ball when it was kicked to touch. Midway through the second half Referee A.K Edusah had to call the players to the centre of the pitch and order them to be serious. As expected it was goalless .Both teams were out of the relegation zone and there was virtually nothing at stake It is hoped Sunday’s match between crest fallen city rivals Hearts of Oak and Great Olympics doesn’t fall into this category. Hearts are in the middle of the pack and Olympics are bottom of the table and fans are asking why they should pay to see a corpse hanged for the second time.

Another final fixture in 1992 that raised eyebrows and needs recalling was between Mampong Ashanti Kumapim Stars and Accra Hearts of Oak which could not be honoured because Hearts (in white) refused to change their jerseys which clashed with those of Kumapim

Hearts insisted that, according to the laws, the home team should change. Referee L.T.K. Amoako however ruled that Hearts should rather change because they failed to attend the pre-match conference where things would have been sorted out. Hearts stubbornly stuck to their decision and went to the pitch at 3.40pm. Kumapim had been on the pitch since 2.54 pm. In such stalemate the referee called off the match at 4.20 pm

Some of the fans went wild. Hearts later reported that four of their players suffered slight injuries from missiles thrown by angry fans. The GFA declared Hearts losers and fined them 100,000 cedis with 50,000 cedis going to Kumapim for expenses

Admittedly Ghana football has come a long way since those heady days of indiscipline and it is good that the Football Association is taking measures to ensure that this season’s marathon competition which started on Dec 2nd 2007 will see a successful end .on Sunday July 6th 2008. It is a healthy exercise that the authorities plan to assemble a team of observers at all the controversial venues especially Sunyani where there will be close circuit television cameras to record all contentious episodes.

Well done Ghana Football Association. We cant afford to have a bizarre end to such an exciting season.

Apart from the marvelous organization and top quality football exhibited by well groomed professionals culminating in the best team winning the cup, Euro 2008 scored a lot of marks for the remarkable respect accorded referees by both players and officials.

I am delighted that my prediction came through and Spain deservingly won the cup.Amazing Spanish striker Fernando Torres confirmed the prediction that he would be the man to watch in the titanic final against Germany and he braved the odds to get the lone match winning goal.

It isn’t always that the best team comes out triumph in such high profile cup matches. Spain completely outplayed Germany in almost all departments of the game. And if perchance the match had gone into extra time Spain would have treated Germany like what Russia did to Holland in the semis.

The European football authority’s insistence on players and officials showing respect for referees yielded good dividends. Discipline on the pitch was at its best and we had a sweet flowing tournament. How I wished Ghana could emulate this fine example.

The way the technical bench of Kpandu Heart of Lions challenged decisions of referee Alex Quartey in the President’s Cup match against Kumasi Asante Kotoko at the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium on Sunday June 29th left much to be desired. Their reactions against the referee’s rulings could have incited a home crowd to misbehave if they were playing at their pet Kpandu grounds. Luckily the Heart of Lions players kept their heads even when one of their key players was sacked for second bookable offence and they had to play with ten men for almost an hour.

Officials of Hearts of Lions must be reminded that with their second spot on the league they will be playing in Africa next season and they would need to imbibe the new international message of respect for the referee The Kpandu based club is a fine side with quite a knowledgeable bench headed by Oti Akenten of the GFA Technical Directorate and they won the hearts of most neutrals on Sunday by the way they fought back twice to level matters against Kotoko in this special annual cup match arranged to mark the Republic day anniversary in Ghana.

One may say that the way they shot three penalty kicks over the bar was somewhat amateurish and they would have to go back to the drawing board to polish the art of scoring from the spot The consolation is that when it comes to penalty shoot out it becomes some sort of lottery and many great teams have lost through this process so theirs is no big deal.

For Asante Kotoko it is a remarkable addition to their string of triumphs both at home and abroad this season culminating in their annexation of the national league title for the 21st time since its inception 50 years ago This victory could not have come at a better time when the fabulous club of Africa is planning a big coronation party at Agona Swedru on Sunday in the last league match of the season against All Blacks affectionately called the "Black magicians".

I have never supported that popular saying that names don’t play football. I believe they do otherwise why so much time and money will be spent to chase a player like Cristiano Ronaldo. The young man has made a name in football and it is his name that draws the crowds to fill the stands. Who will pay to watch nonentities on the pitch .I insist that names make the game tick and teams that think otherwise will continue to have no silverware in their wardrobes.

There is no doubt that the Euro 2008 final between Spain and Germany will parade some of the most exciting names in world football. It is great names like Fernando Torres of Spain and Germany’s Miroslav Klose that will set the stadium ablaze.

Football pundits agree that Torres has excellent ball control with both feet and his supremacy in the air makes him a first class striker. He has displayed these qualities clearly in the championships so far.

England star Michael Owen admires the way Torres takes on goalkeepers one on one. “He’ll keep them guessing and remains cool and composed when the heat is on in front of goal That’s the true hallmark of a true goal grabber” Owen said. And I back him to the hilt.

It is my firm belief that Torres will take the entire Spanish team on his shoulders when the going gets tough and for once I tip the perennial underachievers to carry the day.

Of course Germany spearheaded by Miroslav Klose will be at their usual aggressive best and the outstanding pace of Klose will come in handy

Klose is reputed to have the ability to steal a yard on defenders inside the penalty area which gives him a head start and invariably takes him into scoring positions.

With such a talented player and many more of his like on parade those who dispute the fact that names matter in football must be joking..

Millions around the globe will be in front of their TV sets to pay homage to football’s great names because the Euro 2008 final is going to parade an array of big names in the game.