Government to honour Offinso accident victims with new stadium

Government has promised to build an ultra-modern sports stadium to honour memories of the eight young footballers who died in a gory accident at Offinso in the Ashanti Region.

Youth and Sports Minister, Isaac Asiamah made this revelation when he spoke at a funeral ceremony held for four of the eight boys.

Addressing the gathering, Isaac Asiamah relayed President Akufo-Addo’s message of commiserations to the bereaved families and also assured them of an edifice which will help unearth talent from the community.

"God knows best even though we can't understand what happened. What we can do is to use it as a teachable moment in our history and learn lessons from it," Mr Asiamah said.

"What the boys wanted was to become world-class footballers, so what can we do to honour their lives? The President wants them to be remembered forever. We can use this unfortunate incident to improve football development in Offinso.

"The President says I should inform you that the government will construct an ultra-modern stadium at Offinso. The stadium will also have a memorial with the images of the seven players. Their mark of excellence would be celebrated forever and ever".

The Sports Minister also disclosed that the government has set up has a GH¢100,000 trust fund for the victims.

The accident occurred when a bus carrying footballers of Vision Soccer Academy plunged into the Offin River.

Two of the boys were buried in line with Islamic customs while burial rites were performed for four of them today, October 1, 2020.

The bodies of Anaaba, Jamal, Opoku and Agyemang were laid in state at Offinso in a ceremony that was graced by the Sports Minister, Director-General of National Sports Authority, among others.