The president of the Ghana Weightlifting Federation (WTF), Ben Nunoo Mensah, says the current budget allocation of GH¢39 million to the Ministry of Youth and Sports is woefully inadequate.

He said the sports ministry, which is next to the Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs in terms of financial support, has a lot of agencies which rely on its resources, and that such a paltry sum was killing sports in the country.

“Unlike the tourism, communications and other ministries, the Sports Ministry does not generate any internal funds even though it has a lot of agencies like the GYEEDA, the Winneba Sports College, among others, who depend on its financial resources,” Nunoo Mensah said.

Raheem Sterling scored his first professional hat-trick for Manchester City on the day his former club Liverpool drew a blank on Jurgen Klopp’s first game in charge.

While Klopp was bemoaning an injury crisis at Anfield that saw him reduced to one senior striker for the 0-0 draw at Tottenham, Sterling and City were celebrating as they thrashed Bournemouth 5-1 to stay two points clear at the top of the English Premier League.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini said: “Sterling must improve, he is improving and I am sure this season he will score more goals than another season he played for Liverpool.”

Twenty minutes after the match, Mauricio Pochettino walked through the press room on his way to the media auditorium.

The Spurs boss glanced up at the TV screen and noticed that Jurgen Klopp was giving an interview.

He looked around and saw that many of the journalists were hanging on the new Liverpool manager’s every word. It made him smile. ‘Let’s listen to him,’ said Pochettino.

Then, he thought better of it and disappeared into the room next door. ‘Klopp will be coming up, you know,’ one of the Spurs officials said with an air of exasperation before he disappeared, too.

Ghana’s gold medalist at this year’s All African Games (AAG) in Brazzaville, Congo, George Darko, has expressed anxiety over the sports ministry’s lack of support for him and his partner after a successful tournament in Congo.

George Darko partnered Wisdom Narh-Adjrago to beat DR Congo in the men’s tennis doubles final to emerge Africa champions.

Darko, who has subsequently been regarded as Ghana’s number 1, came up with some brilliant displays and led the charge with perfect serves, while Narh aided with some brilliant techniques to defeat their Congolese counterparts. 

Arsenal Champions League hopes is hanging by a thread ahead of the midweek showdown and they must go for broke against Bayern Munich to get their campaign back on track.

 Arsenal must take the initiative if they are to spring a surprise against Bayern Munich tomorrow night.

The Gunners sit bottom of their Champions’ League group after galling defeats to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos, meaning the pressure is on ahead of back-to-back clashes with the Bundesliga giants.

Bayern have started the season in sensational form, winning their first nine league matches and scoring eight unanswered goals in continental competition to date.

Novak Djokovic continues to reach new heights as the dominant world No 1 comfortably beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win the Shanghai Rolex Masters and end his two-week spell in China without dropping a set.

After a stunning victory against world No. 2 Andy Murray last Saturday night, Djokovic returned 19 hours later in the same vein to complete a run of 10 consecutive wins and 20 straight sets in Asia, needing just 78 minutes to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 6-4.

Djokovic's Shanghai triumph is his 25th career Masters title which takes him to second ahead of Roger Federer in the all-time list. The Serbian needs just three more to overtake Rafael Nadal – who Djokovic beat in last week’s China Open final in Beijing—which very much feels like inevitability.

Two magical moments by Joel Fameyeh saved the local Black Stars from embarrassment, handing the team a deserved 2-1 victory over their Ivorian counterparts. The narrow wingave Ghana a slight edge to pick one of three tickets from Zone West B for a fourth appearance at the biannual CHAN tournament in Rwanda next January.

A late inclusion in the team, Fameyeh’s strikes, one in either half, saved the blushes of head coach Maxwell Konadu, as he seek to re-align and sharpen his attack, tighten his midfield, and, perhaps, find a fitting striking partner for Fameyeh, the revelation of the day.

Fameyeh's exceptional eye for goals brought back fond memories of former Premier League goal-king and Hearts of Oak arrowhead, Joe Fameyeh. The Asokwa Deportivo striker’s deft touches from a two-man move with Daniel Darkwah fetched Ghana's equaliser on the stroke of half time.

Cristiano Ronaldo set a club scoring record as Real Madrid beat Levante 3-0 at the Bernabeu and went top of La Liga last Saturday.

Marcelo fired Real ahead in the 27th minute at the Bernabéu when he exchanged passes with Ronaldo and blasted the ball past Rubén in the Levante goal.

Ronaldo made it 2-0 three minutes later when he cracked a long-range effort into the corner, his 324th Real goal putting him one clear of Raúl. It ended a rare four-match goal drought in Spain’s top flight for the Portugal captain, his joint-worst run since he joined Real in 2009.

For the first time in the history of Ghana football, president Kwesi Nyantakyi has been tasked to pick a four-man team to form his inner circle as the focus of attention shifts from the Executive Committee elections to the composition of the Emergency Committee (EmCo).

In conformity with the FA Congress’ reviewed Statutes, Article 30:3 has mandated Nyantakyi to choose his own vice president and three other ExCo members to run the day-to-day affairs of the association, replacing the old order where the ExCo elected the EmCo members.

As part of the process, the incumbent ExCo members will meet today to streamline modalities that will pave the way for the new selection of the new EmCo members.

Accra Polytechnic point guard, Abdul Mutaleb Alhassan, was last Friday adjudged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2015 Ghana Basketball season, pipping three of his teammates to the coveted award.

Alhassan, nicknamed ‘Varanda,’ fended off competition from his support cast -- Romeo Enan Wilfred, Baniba Norbert Dodzi and Daniel Nii Aryee -- to clinch the top award for his efforts during the season, which saw Accra Poly triumph in both the Universities Polytechnics and Colleges (UPAC) Championship and Ghana Polytechnic Sports Association (GHAPSA) games.

Alhassan’s teammates and coach did not go home without silverware as representatives of Accra Poly, who were incidentally named the Team of the Year, dominated the competitive section of the awards held at the TV3 Studios in Accra.

Newcastle picked up their first win of the league campaign by downing Norwich City 6-2 at St. James Park with four goals from Georginio Wijnaldum.

Newcastle was dangerous from the start, and they’d pick up the opener in the 15th minute as Norwich failed to clear. Moussa Sissoko resisted the urge to pop off a shot from the top of the box, instead releasing Wijnaldum through the back line that touched home to the far post for the lead.

It was the first time in three and a half years that Newcastle had scored three goals in the first half, the last time being a 3-1 win at West Brom on 25th March, 2012.

The clash between Chelsea and Aston Villa in the English Premier League attracted a lot of Ghanaian interest over the weekend, not just because most people wanted to see how the Blues and defending champions would fare, but also it marked the Premier League debut for left back Abdul Baba Rahman against Jordan Ayew.

In the end, Rahman celebrated his EPL debut with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa, while the uncertainty continued for Ayew, who is yet to hit fine form as he did in the French Ligue 1 last season.

Rahman, brought in from Augsburg just before the transfer window closed, was started in the Chelsea defence by in place of the injured Branislav Ivanovic.

Nigeria and Angola took a big step towards the 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals in Rwanda after emphatic wins in their qualifiers over the weekend.

The second week of the ongoing Diwali Cup T20 Cricket tournament has ended at the Achimota Cricket Oval with two interesting encounters.

In the first game, newcomers Kotobabi Knight Riders played Godrej Cricket Club in a Pool B clash. Both teams had lost their opening games and were keen on winning to keep alive their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals.

Accra-based technology tracking firm, Nsoroma GPS Tracking Systems, will kit the Nsoroma cricket team and provide equipment and logistics for their training as part of a new sponsorship deal.

The company will also seek to expand the team into more age groups beyond the current Under-15 and 19 male and female teams.

The Nsoroma cricket Under-19 male team last week won the Under-19 Cricket Championship, while their Under-15 female counterparts also won gold at the behest of Accra Taysec Titans.