Greater Accra regional Skate Soccer team Accra Giants were narrowly defeated by their sworn rivals Ashanti Warriors to lose the maiden MTN Skate Soccer league in Kumasi with a pulsating 3-2 win over rivals, Accra Giants in the final match.
The homesters who were purposeful in attack grabbed two quick goals in the early stages of the game before Sani Gariba pulled one back just before the end of the first half.
This revived the ‘can do spirit’ among the visitors to scored the equaliser through Mallam Ahmed. But, Mohammed Bello of Ashanti Warriors neatly converted a late penalty to win the match for his side to stop the Accra based team over their recent dominance.
Next round of the matches scheduled for Accra on Saturday, June 29 and July 27 for the second and third round will exclude Ashanti Warriors as they wait the winner in those games following their triumphant victory last Saturday.
Mr. Albert Frimpong, Chief Executive of the International Federation of Skate Soccer (IFSS), revealed talks are ongoing with the headline sponsors, MTN Ghana, to expand the game to cover the entire country.
“The idea of introducing the sport to the world was to discourage begging for alms by the physically challenged and to make them more relevant to the society and economically reliant. I also express my profound gratitude to Binatone for supporting us until MTN took over,” Mr. Frimpong said.
In his speech, Mr. Simon Amoh, Senior General Trade of MTN expressed the sponsor’s delight in associating with skate soccer. “MTN always seeks to promote a positive relationship between the brand and the customer by demonstrating unique understanding of customer need and therefore appreciate the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of these unique and creative people.”
According to him, heading the sponsorship of skate soccer was one of the exciting ways to help the physically challenged while he lives.
He said MTN was inspired by the tenacity and strength of the players and pray and hope for the growth of the sport to attract more teams so that it would keep the physically challenged meaningfully engaged.
Mr. Amoh appreciated the “Can-Do Spirit” displayed by both organisers and the players by embracing the idea that disability is not inability and desired that participants will be able to discover their dreams as well as inspire many people facing similar challenges in their lives.
He applauded the IFSS for championing the course of the physically challenged and helping them to identify their talent in skate soccer. “Together with the teams and IFSS, we hope that skate soccer will grow in Ghana and beyond and that in future, you will win for us to hold at the Olympic Games. Yes you can.”
Story: Michael Okuley
Twitter: @MikeOkuley
