With just days remaining for Ghana to open her arms to an estimated 1 million plus football fans and tourists, there promises to be a carnival of other sporting and cultural events to support Ghana 2008. The Local Organizing Committee for Ghana 2008 is hoping that the inclusion of Beach Soccer on the football menu would score an instant hit.
In a united move to quell reports of in fighting at the LOC, Dr. Kofi Amoah and Rex Danquah the two leading men of Ghana 2008 have given thumbs up to the beach sports fest.
Dr. Amoah said the competition would afford Ghanaians an opportunity to showcase the good, the big and the beautiful in the country. ‘Football lovers who would come from all works of life and from many different countries would be in for a feast of fun at the four venues and now at the beach when football takes a break''.
Significantly, the 26th edition of the African Cup of Nations is expected to be the biggest ever since the inception of the competition and the formation of CAF exactly 50 years ago.
The opportunity to see, taste and feel the world famous Ghanaian hospitality would be the catalyst for this launch of Beach Soccer.
The Ghana Beach Soccer Cup is a concept formulated by the Ghana Beach Sports Association in conjunction with the National Sports Council. The event is also aimed at encouraging sponsors to promote their brands with a message of supporting African Unity.
The CEO of the NSC Prince Oduro Mensah is known to be a staunch supporter of beach sports in Ghana and has predicted a bright future for beach sports especially beach soccer.
''The competition will be the perfect melting pot for football fans to mix and blend in an atmosphere of culture, fashion, music and sports and i am confident that with the right support we can go places''.
In a release by the GBSA, the maiden event in Accra would be used by families to relax and enjoy the beautiful stretch of beaches of Ghana during Ghana 2008. Matches will be played at the beach when the football event takes a rest day or a break.
The idea is to involve football fans to meet some of the favourite stars and to enjoy the ambience of the Ghana 2008. According to one of the event organizers Albert Frimpong, the format for fixtures would be exactly the same as Ghana 2008.
''The beauty is that the competition would complement the Nations Cup as best as it can so that fans can have a totally chilled out feel of Accra''.
So why is the event not spread out at all the venues? Albert Frimpong quickly added that as the very first competition of it's kind, ''it just makes sense to keep it simple and nice rather than complicated and messy''.
The beach soccer event will feature Ghanaian Super stars like world cup winner Marcel Desailly, retired Black Stars defender Tony Baffoe, three times African Footballer of the year Abedi Pele and African legends like George Weah of Liberia, Mark Fish of South Africa, Roger Milla of Cameroon, Kalusha Bwalya of Zambia and Jay Kay Okocha of Nigeria.
The presence of these football icons as well as entertainers such as King Ayisoba, Kwaw Kesse, Akwantufuo, Shasha Marley and Wutah is expected to turn the event into a mega hit.
For more information visit: wwww.myghanabeachsports.com
BEACH SOCCER 2008 FIXTURES
(Day 1) Feb 1 2008
1. GHANA v GUINEA 2. M'ROCO v NAMIBIA 3. NIGERIA v IVORY COAST 4. BENIN v MALI
(Day 2) Feb 2 2008
5. EGYPT v CAMEROON 6. ZAMBIA v SUDAN 7. SENEGAL v TUNISIA 8. ANGOLA v S.AFRICA
The winners automatically qualify to the next stage – wwww.myghanabeachsports.com
