Nyantakyi (L), Kenpong and Appiah at the event grounds
Former Ghana Football Association (GFA) president Kwesi Nyantakyi and business contractor Kennedy Agyepong (Kenpong) joined thousands of football fans and sympathisers to mark Christian Atsu’s one-week observance ceremony in Accra on Saturday.
The duo were in the company of Kwesi Appiah, former Black Stars coach and the current Technical Director at Kenpong Football Academy who discovered the gifted winger at FC Porto.
The announcement of Nyantakyi’s arrival at the grounds, the man credited for Ghana’s three-streak World Cup participations (2006, 2010 and 2014) by MC Kofi Asare Brako, generated intense cheers and applause from the large gathering.
The former Newcastle United and Chelsea winger had died under bizarre circumstances in the Turkey earthquake last month after over a week of search for him.
Indeed, the former FC Porto man, who shot into prominence under Nyantakyi’s tenure, tragic death swept the entire football community’s off their feet.
And it emerged at the ceremony that the final funeral rites of the deceased would be held on March 17 at the forecourt of the State House in Accra.
The former AFC Bournemouth player was part of Nyantakyi’s AFCON success story as losing finalists on penalties to Cote d’Ivoire in 2015.
And to the former FIFA Executive Committee member and CAF Vice President, Atsu’s death is a big blow taking into account his immense contribution to football and humanity.
Majority of the immediate past generation of Black Stars players graced the event.
Similarly, the clergy, politicians, movie stars, supporters unions, businessmen, and people from all walks of lives thronged to the Adjiringanor Astro Turf to mark the one-week observance ceremony.
By Kofi Owusu Aduonum