Ghana Beach Soccer clears the air on Olympic Committee funds

The President of Beach Soccer Ghana Yaw Ampofo Ankrah has confirmed that his outfit received only 4,000 Ghana cedis and not 40,000 dollars as some reports have suggested in the media.

“We have written to the Ghana Olympic Committee to confirm and account for the said amount received in 2017 as a non Olympic  association support fund given to us by the GOC in 2017.

Speaking on Yfm Sports,  Ampofo Ankrah said because beach soccer is yet to be a fully adopted and sanctioned Olympic sport, the association was only entitled to a supplementary fund.

“Some people may even laugh at this amount and describe it as a pennies but for beach soccer, every penny counts”.

Explaining why there was such a long delay in accounting for funds, he pointed to miscommunication between the GBSA and the Ghana Olympic Committee Secretariat which has now been resolved.

“I’m happy to report that this has been clarified and we are looking forward to receiving more support whenever we qualify for sports funds”.

Meanwhile, Ampofo Ankrah has also confirmed that Beach Soccer Ghana is in talks with long term sponsor CAL Bank to extend their sponsorship contract for the national team Black Sharks as well as to relaunch the Ghana Beach Soccer League.

He said he’s confident that with the changes ongoing in Ghana football by the GFA Normalization Committee, beach soccer would have a bigger say and greater support from the FA in the near future.

Notwithstanding the challenges, Beach soccer has steadily grown along the coastal belt of Ghana over the years with increasing number of teams and players emerging from the Western, Central, Volta and  Gt Accra regions.

Ghana is currently ranked 8 in Africa by Caf and is also recognized by Fifa as the 69th ranked team in the world.

Source: Thepressradio.com/Dickson Boadi