betPawa, the Ghana Premier League’s headline sponsor, has announced a shift in focus in its sponsorship deal for the Ghanaian top flight.

The betting business revealed this move in a statement today, after an agreement with the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

According to the announcement, betPawa will concentrate on giving teams direct cash incentives in the form of locker room bonuses.

The Locker Room Bonus has increased by 167%, taking it from 150 Ghana Cedis ($12.49) to 450 Ghana Cedis ($33.31) at the time of writing.

This development, according to betPawa, would meet the first portion of the sponsorship agreement it signed with the GFA before to the commencement of the 2022-2023 Ghana Premier League season, which was the first of a three-year relationship between the two organisations. (To read the whole story, click on the highlighted paragraph.)

It went on to say, “we want to assure the sporting community that BetPawa and GFA will continue to work together to develop and improve football standards in the country.”

Jonina Football Academy will face a struggling Essiam Socrates at Antiaku Astro field in week six of the current Malta Guinness Women’s Premier League.

With three games remaining unbeaten, might Jonina FC capitalise on their opponent’s current form and win their second game of the season?

After a string of defeats, Jonina rebounded to upset newly promoted Sea Lions by a goal to nil and draw Faith, Ladies, 1-1 to collect 4 points out of a possible 6.

Agnes Yeboah, the top scorer for Jonina, with three goals in five games, followed by goals from Angela Asantewaa and Josephine Addowa, who has the fastest goal in the league so far—she scored it in sixty seconds. Jonina FC has conceded seven goals after scoring five in five games. They’ve shown they can play well away from home by scoring four goals in each of their three away games.

After starting the season with a 1-1 stalemate against Lady Strikers, Essiam Socrates went on to lose four consecutive games and ended second to last in the league log. They have conceded six goals, scored three goals, and lost their past two home games. Essiam has not lost against a newly promoted team since their league debut in 2022-2023.

Ernest Papa Arko, former captain of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, has died, according to the club.

Following a brief illness, the Ghana international died in the early hours of Sunday.

Arko played for Asante Kotoko in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and he was also the team’s captain.

They went on to be finalists in the 1982 African Cup of Champions Clubs, losing to Al Ahly SC of Egypt.

He led the squad again in 1983, the year they last won the CAF Champions League.

Kotoko stated in a statement, ”Everyone at Asante Kotoko is devastated by the news that our 1983 Champions League winning Captain, Papa Arkoh has passed away in Accra. Our thoughts are with his family and his former mates.”

Arko participated in Ghana’s failure to defend its African Cup of Nations title in 1980. He was also a member of the team that competed in the 1984 African Nations Cup.

He is the third Kotoko icon to die in the last month, following Joe Debrah and Robert Eshun.