Ghana/Sierra Leone to open Amputee Football Championship

Accra , Nov 16, GNA - The National Amputee Football team, the Black Challenge, have been housed in Group A alongside Senegal, Sierra Leone and Kenya in the Cup of African Nations for Amputee Football (CANAF) to be hosted by Ghana, from November 18-26, 2011.

Ghana would open the competition against Sierra Leone on November 19, at the El Wak Stadium, then take on Senegal at the Accra Sports Stadium and complete the group phase with a game against Kenya at the national stadium.

The pairings was revealed after a brief balloting by the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the competition at the Media Center of the Accra Sports Stadium on Wednesday.

Dominic Asabea, Chairman of the LOC who conducted the draw, said that Ghana and Liberia were seeded for the competition due to their outstanding performance in previous competitions.

He said Liberia are the defending champions whilst Ghana performed creditably at the last World Cup for Amputees held in Argentina.

Mr Asabea said the competition would be guided by the rules of the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) and World Amputee Football.

In Group B, Liberia, Nigeria, Niger and Angola would seek for the two slots for the next stage of the competition.

Francis Adjetey Sowah, President of Ghana Amputee Football Association said they are expecting Niger, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Kenya and Niger, by close of Sunday, with Liberia as the first country to report in the country whilst Senegal are yet to confirm their flight arrangement and date of arrival.