“I want to assure you that anybody who is caught smuggling Ghanaian subsidized fertilizer and insecticides across our borders will face the full rigours of the law. The law will not spare such a person.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”jTE0KZRljC09PDVLCMNRuCURWhpwGsMY”]He described the smugglers as saboteurs of the planting for food and jobs programme, hence the need to prosecute anybody caught in that act.

President Nana Addo was addressing the chiefs and people of Mamprugu traditional area at the forecourt of the Nayiri palace in Nalerigu.

According to him, about two million farmers are so far benefiting from the planting for food and jobs programme.

He implied that his administration will sustain the programme at all cost to rebrand Ghana as the food basket of the sub-Saharan region.

President Nana Addo said government will increase the number of extension officers recruited this year from 1,200 to 3,000 next year.

He decried the previous government’s failure to pay agric extension  officers for five years, and promised them better remuneration.

He implied that his administration will sustain the programme at all cost to rebrand Ghana as the food basket of the sub-Saharan region.

The overlord of Mamprugu traditional area, the Nayiri Mahami Bohagu Sheriga, extolled government for implementing the planting for food and jobs programme.

He appealed to government to support smallholder farmers in his area to adopt best agribusiness practices.

He admonished government to strengthen the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), and establish two health facilities in the Mamprugu/Mogduri and Bunkprugu/Yunyoo  districts.

–

By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The visitors, who were without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, were superb in attack and led thanks to early goals from Sergio Ramos and Gareth Bale.

But Sociedad exposed their defensive deficiencies to level through Inigo Martinez and David Zurutuza.

Zurutuza struck again to give the home side the lead before Carlos Vela fired in to seal the victory.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has invested heavily this summer to further improve the attacking prowess of his side, with the big-money signings of Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez.

And the results of this were clear to see, particularly in the first half, as Madrid swept into a 2-0 lead.

Kroos’ corner was converted by the head of Ramos after five minutes before Bale nutmegged his marker on the edge of the box and fired in to double the advantage six minutes later.

Real were in complete control when Bale made it 2-0 after 11 minutes

They could have had more with Marcelo twice going close and Ramos again showing his aerial prowess with a headed effort that just missed the target.

But as good as Ancelotti’s side were at one end, they were poor at the other and were ruthlessly exposed by a clinical Sociedad side.

Martinez narrowed Real’s advantage by tapping in at the back post after a corner had been flicked on by Xabi Prieto before Zurutuza capitalised on some more bad marking from the away side to power a header home from Alberto De la Bella’s cross.

With the momentum behind them, Sociedad forced home their advantage in the second half as Madrid crumbled.

Zurutuza completed the turnaround by showing good determination to beat Dani Carvajal to a low cross from skipper Prieto and turn the ball in.

And Carlos Vela secured the victory by slamming a shot on the turn into the roof of the net.

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Source: BBC Sport

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The Catalans dominated throughout but could not find a breakthrough until 18-year-old forward Sandro tapped in.

They hit the woodwork before half-time when Lionel Messi’s free-kick was pushed onto the post by Sergio Asenjo.

But Villarreal almost took the lead against the run of play when Tomas Pina’s angled drive hit the post.

The visitors controlled possession and territory but looked set to be frustrated against a Villarreal side which finished a credible sixth on their return to the Spanish top flight last season.

That was until Sandro, another product of Barca’s La Masia academy, gleefully tucked in a loose ball after Messi was denied from a tight angle.

Neymar made his return for Barcelona as a second-half substitute following injury

The Spain youth international’s winner means Barca have taken maximum points from their two La Liga matches under new boss Luis Enrique.

Former Barca player Enrique appears to be asking his players to play their trademark possession-based game at a higher tempo than they did under his predecessor Tata Martino.

But for a long time, it did not look as though Villarreal would tire and allow themselves to be prised open by the visitors.

Unsurprisingly, four-time world player of the year Messi was the focal point of Barca’s brightest attacking play, creating a host of chances before providing the assist for Sandro.

Barca right-back Dani Alves, who ate a banana thrown on to the pitch in this fixture last season, was jeered by Villarreal fans throughout.

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Source: BBC Sport

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La Liga boss Javier Tebas even joked he wants “the best 500 players” in global football in the league.

Luis Suarez (£75m) and Gareth Bale (£85.3m) have left England for Spain in the last two summer transfer windows.

“We are not going to stop. We want the best 500 players,” said Tebas.

The Premier League’s last domestic TV deal alone earned it £3.018bn.

“We want to make sure we have the biggest clubs and also the best players from the whole world in our league,” said Tebas.

Fifa 2014 World Cup stars James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos have joined Real Madrid this summer, while in Real and Sevilla the league boasts both the Champions League and Europa League champions.

Rodriguez, Kroos and Suarez will feature in the ‘El Clasico’ meetings between Real Madrid and Barcelona next season alongside the likes of Welshman Bale – who says La Liga is the best league in the world – Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Lionel Messi.

Champions Atletico Madrid have paid £22m to Bayern Munich for Mario Mandzukic and have agreed to pay Real Sociedad £24m for France winger Antoine Griezmann.

But some clubs – including Atletico, Sevilla and Valencia – have racked up huge debts attempting to match Real and Barcelona while Malaga and Rayo Vallecano were banned from European football because of the state of their finances.

La Liga has a system whereby each club is allowed to negotiate their own TV deals and, while Barcelona and Real Madrid earned £110m last season, their rivals struggled to match that amount.

In contrast, the Premier League negotiates its TV deal on a collective basis.

Tebas is trying to bridge the financial gap by raising the profile of La Liga by targeting new markets, including the United States and Asia.

With its huge Hispanic population, the USA is viewed as a key market and Tebas, who was born in Costa Rica, held a series of meetings with “key business partners” in San Francisco last week to discuss future strategy.

Those discussions were concluded by the centre piece LFP World Challenge, where Atletico overcame MLS side San Jose Earthquakes on penalties.

But they are the type of pre-season fixtures that Premier League clubs are invited to all the time. Over the past fortnight, nine of the English top flight’s 20 clubs have played in the US.

It is a figure Tebas needs to match if he is to close the gulf in financial power between the leagues of England and Spain.

“It is impossible to compare us with the Premier League from a commercial perspective,” said Tebas. “What we are trying to do is get closer to them.

“We have been in Asia but right now our aim is to bring more teams from La Liga to this part of the world. We are working on this, it’s a long-term project and is why we are here in the United States.

“There is a lot of support out here for Real Madrid and Barcelona. Our goal is to bring more teams here from La Liga so the football supporters in the United States can get used to them as well.”

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Source: BBC Sport

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Suarez, signed from Liverpool for £75m this summer, is serving a four-month ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup.

He was banned on 26 June but the incident took place on 24 June, meaning he should be available at the Bernabeu.

The second El Clasico of the season is set for 22 March 2015.

Suarez was banned from all football-related activities by Fifa and cannot train with his new club and is prohibited from entering the confines of any stadium.

Defending champions Atletico Madrid begin their campaign against Rayo Vallecano on the weekend of 24 August, with Barca at home to Elche and Real hosting Cordoba.

Real could hand debuts to £71m forward James Rodriguez and German World Cup winner Toni Kroos against the newly promoted side.

Fellow new boys Eibar and Deportivo La Coruna begin against Real Sociedad and Granada respectively.

This week, La Liga agreed to use ‘vanishing spray’ – popular during the World Cup – to mark out the position of the wall at free-kicks.

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Source: BBC Sport

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The Welshman helped Real secure the Champions League last season and will link up with Rodriguez, who completed a £63m move to the Bernabeu this week after some impressive displays for Colombia in the World Cup.

Bale learned his trade in the Premier League, proving his worth during spells at Southampton and Tottenham before joining Real in a record breaking £85.3m switch last September.

He faces Barcelona’s top stars such as Lionel Messi, Xavi, Neymar and Iniesta on a regular basis and feels the best talent has been lured to La Liga.

“For me I think the Spanish league is the most exciting,” he said. “It’s the world’s top players there. Barcelona, Real Madrid are always in the Champions League, either winning it or coming very close.

“The Premier League is a great league. I think it’s very close, but yeah I think we are attracting the best players now to La Liga and it’s making it more exciting and it’s great to be involved in it.”

Bale is also excited about Madrid’s prospects for the upcoming season as they prepare for the International Champions Cup in the USA.

“We enter six competitions and we want to win every one,” he said. “That would be amazing. We are hungrier than ever.

“No team has retained the Champions League so we want to do that.

“And there is a special touch for me because the Super Cup (against Sevilla) is in my home town (Cardiff). Hopefully we can do the job and get the trophy.”

The arrival of James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos will lead to intense competition for places at Real, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria, Isco, Karim Benzema and Bale already in town.

Bale said: “James is a great signing. He has shown what quality he has in the World Cup and hopefully he can produce for Real Madrid what he did for Colombia.

“It’s for the manager to decide what system we play and who plays. You need to perform well to keep your place, everyone knows that.”

Bale may not be fluent in Spanish but says he feels very settled at Madrid..

“It’s very difficult when you first come over,” he said. “But they are such a great bunch of boys in the changing room here and they made me feel welcome.

“A lot of them speak English, which helped me.

“Getting used to the climate was quite a big change but I have a great team around me, which helps.

“I took a bit of time to settle in but I feel very comfortable now.

“It is exactly what I hoped for at Real Madrid. I still need to learn the language but that will come in time.”

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Source: Sky Sports

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On a day of nerve-jangling tension, when Atletico came desperately close to a late goal that would have clinched the championship, Real Madrid dropped out of the title race when they suffered a surprise 2-0 loss at Celta Vigo that left them five points behind their city rivals with one game remaining.

Atletico are top on 89 points from 37 matches, with Barca on 86 and Real, who were missing key players through injury at Celta including top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, on 84.

If Barca beat Atletico next Sunday they will be champions as they would have a better head-to-head record after the title rivals drew 0-0 at the Calderon in Madrid in January.

A draw would be enough for Atletico to secure their first domestic league title since 1996, when current coach Diego Simeone was in the team, and become the first team other than Spain’s wealthy big two to win La Liga since Valencia in 2004.

Samuel Sanchez gave Malaga a shock lead 25 minutes from time at Atletico’s packed Calderon stadium, where the fans have been enjoying the club’s best season in years.

Jose Sosa levelled for the home side, who play Real in the Champions League final on May 24, in the 74th minute and Adrian came close to a winner in stoppage time but was denied by a brilliant save from Malaga goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

At Elche’s Martinez Valero arena in Alicante, Barca created plenty of chances but as so often this season they failed to take them.

Their bid for a fifth La Liga title in six seasons remains alive, however, despite consecutive draws as Atletico again failed to take advantage of Barca’s stumble.

Real’s faint hopes of pipping Atletico and Barca to the title were extinguished when a Charles double either side of halftime condemned them to a defeat that ended their chances of a Champions League, La Liga and King’s Cup treble.

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