Ali Jarra football academy to give young footballers scholarship

Ali Jaraa played in three juvenile FIFA World Cups, 1989, 1991, 1993 and one African Cup of Nations and won one juvenile World Cup in 1991, two silvers medals and one African cup of nations.

He also played for Accra Hearts of Oak and won Ghana League Best Goalkeeper's awards in the 1991/ 1992/1993 season.

He won the Toyota Most Exciting Player award but mysteriously got paralyzed in 1993 which shocked the whole nation.

He was taken abroad for medical treatment, and he returned home alive, but could not play his most loved game again, and his dreams of playing professional football in Europe was dashed.

The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) officer decided to impart his knowledge and opened the Ali Jarra Soccer Academy at the Mamprobi Indafa Park and produced both male and female goalkeepers.

Ghana has appointed him as coach of the national amputee team, who have been performing well as some players are now playing in Europe.

Last year, he was honoured by the UN with the Kofi Annan Gold Star Award for his contribution to sports development and promotion.

Arguably he is one of Ghana's finest Juvenile Goalkeepers ever and wishes to leave a legacy.

The Ali Jarra Football Academy is different from other academies because their focus is on education and want all players to be educated to the highest level they can go.

Located at Dansoman in Accra, they have a hostel to lodge the players and have come into agreement with some of the popular schools in the community.

He said footballers must be educated so that they can have other careers and developed skills after their playing days, in order to contribute to the economy of Ghana.

He started coaching only goalkeepers, then moved on to add outfield players, because he wanted to expand and do total football and support footballers.

According to the manager of the Academy, Jason Jarra who happens to be his son, they were supposed to organize a justification exercise at the Ajax Park at Legon and the Indafa Park at Mamprobi but was postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.