Vodafone outdoors Dede Ayew and Richard Kinston as brand icons

Accra, Aug. 6, GNA - Dede Ayew and Richard Kingson, both players of the Black Stars of Ghana have been formally out-doored as Brand Icons of Vodafone Ghana, a subsidiary of the World leader in telecommunications,.

The two iconic players were out-doored during the launch of the Right to Dream Academy football scouting road show event in Kumasi, last week end.

Dede who was physically not present extend words of advice and encouragement to the promising players who participated in the justify-your-inclusion exercise.

Ike Cudjoe, Head of Corporate Communications, Vodafone in a press release copied to GNA Sports in Accra on Thursday said as "As icons of the Vodafone brand, the two famous footballers will leverage on their passion for the game to inspire other Ghanaian youth who have ambitions to play professional football".

They will also be icons of the Vodafone brand for some public events that Vodafone will organize to engage its customers, prospective customers and the general public.

He said Dede Ayew and Kingson will appear at Right to Dream Academy events and other football events that Vodafone is affiliated with and will be involved in key Corporate Responsibility activities by Vodafone.

Mr Cudjoe said "Vodafone has settled on Dede and Kingson because of their growing invaluable contributions to the Black Stars and their growing influence in world football. Their roles in helping the team to go far in the last two major football tournaments, namely, CAN 2010 in Angola and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa have remarkably changed the world's perception about Ghanaian football."

Dede's football prowess makes him world class footballer. This became evident in the recently held World Cup in South Africa. He also led the under 20 team, the Black Satellites, to lift the youth World Cup in Egypt last year, the first ever by an African country. Richard Kingson has also been described by football pundits as the safest pair of hands for Ghana. His consistent form in the posts for the country in the last two World Cups and other key matches for the Black Stars has made him almost indispensable in the posts for the senior national team.

At the player scouting launch in Kumasi, Richard Kingson said he

was delighted to be associated with the Vodafone brand to help

deprived children realize their dreams of achieving laurels for

themselves and the Ghana.

He said the Right to Dream Football Academy is timely and asked

those fortunate to have been selected into it to take their studies

seriously, exhorting them to stay away from all social vices that

could derail their path

to success.

Vodafone in March this year signed a three-year partnership deal

with the Right to Dream Football Academy to identify and recruit

young talented footballers that are deprived, and offer them quality

education alongside football to help them realize their potentials.

This year's scouting event was launched in Kumasi and would be

replicated in the other nine regions during which 23 talented young

footballers below 14 years would be selected into the Academy for a

five-year educational scholarship as well as lessons in the game of

football.