Ampofo Ankrah with Alex Soriano, Head of sponsorship, beach soccer worldwide
The newly-formed West African Beach Soccer Union (WABSU) has appointed Ghana’s Yaw Ampofo Ankrah to head the media, communications and branding department of the body, DAILY GUIDE SPORTS has learnt.
This was confirmed on Sunday evening following a post-tournament meeting of Executives and pioneer founders.
Ampofo Ankrah is widely regarded as the man who brought organised beach soccer to Ghana and initiated the formation of the Black Sharks, the National Beach Soccer team in 2013. Ghana also boasts of a national beach soccer league comprising 16 clubs.
His immediate task will be to draft a template for the Union to embrace partners, sponsors and donors across the sub-region, the continent and globally.
It is believed his media experience in Ghana, the BBC and Supersport among others made him a strong choice for the role.
It is envisaged that the birth of the WABSU at the just ended Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations in Nigeria, would accelerate the growth of the sport in the sub-region.
The four founding nations- Nigeria, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, unanimously voted that the union headquarters would be in Lagos.
It was also agreed that there should be an annual clubs tournament and national teams tournament aimed at improving the standard of the game in West Africa.
Below is the full list of pioneer Executives and appointees of the WABSU
Suleiman Yahaya Kwande – Chairman, Mbahia Yves – Vice Chairman Olajide Taye – Chief Operations Officer, Samson Adamu Sponsorship/Marketing, Yaw Ampofo Ankrah – Media/Communications & Branding, Ibrahima Ndiaye Chita – Director of Competitions Abdullahi Isa – Technical Director, Akre Benoit – Logistics Manager and Poku Amankwah – Youth Development Program.
From The Sports Desk