ECOWAS Secretariat yet to fix a date for tournament

Accra, Nov. 24, GNA - The Ministry of Education of Sports has described as ridiculous and totally untrue a news item, which suggested that, the ministry was either reneging on its responsibility or frustrating the Black Satellites from participating in the final phase of the ECOWAS/WAFU 30th Anniversary soccer tournament in Abuja, Nigeria. Ghana, Cote D'Ivoire, The Gambia and host Nigeria were scheduled to have honoured the tournament from November 21-24th but the ECOWAS Secretariat has not been forthcoming with a fixed date.

A source at the Ministry told the GNA Sports in reaction to a sports programme on an Accra radio station that the ministry through the Ghana Football Association has written to the ECOWAS Secretariat, organisers of the tournament, to confirm the date for the final phase of the event but no favourable response has come through yet. The Secretariat has, however, assured the ministry that once a favourable date was agreed on, Ghana would be rightfully informed, the source told the GNA Sports.

The Ministry urged the sports media to be circumspect about their reportage in order not to fuel unnecessary tension among soccer fans and also derail Ghana's study progress in the world of football.

Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire were winners in their respective groups at the preliminary stage while The Gambia, emerged the overall second-best with Nigeria participating as the host nation.