Opare Ansah
THE Suhum Municipal Electoral Area League (MEALS) sponsored by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Suhum Constituency, Fredrick Opare Ansah has ended on Sunday.
Yiadom Stars from Adarkwah and Star Rangers from Okonam emerged as the two finalists with the former beating their counterparts 8-7 on penalties to win the ultimate after a 1-1 stalemate.
With 32 teams who started the league this year, eight were able to make it to the last stages of the hotly contested event with the winning club taking home a cash prize of ¢6,000, a set of jersey and a trophy.
The losing finalists took home ¢ 4,000 and a set of jersey with the third-place team receiving an amount of ¢3,000 plus a set of jersey.
All the eight teams that participated in the final stages took GH¢ 1,000 and a set of jerseys each.
Yiadom Stars – Adarkwa, New Roman Stars – Suhum, Road Side FC – Suhum, Edaho Soccer Missionaries – Omenako, Appointed FC – Supresu, Star Rangers – Okonam, Ayekotse Zongo Youth – Suhum and Brong Densuso Stars from Brong Densuso participated in the final stages.
Fredrick Opare Ansah said the league had to go on break to enable them reorganize themselves to improve it saying, “Despite taking the cost in the entire league, sponsoring the tournament came from my pocket as well the Common Fund.”
He added “It is the dream of organizers to get the Michael Essiens, the Dede Ayews and Asamoah Gyans from Suhum which I believe would help the economy and motivate the youth to take up the challenge and bring out their talents.
“We feel that the above-mentioned prizes are motivating enough for all the teams to put up their best and indeed when you analyze the final game you can tell everybody was determined to win the cup.”
Hon. Opare Ansah expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Sports for supporting him with ten sets of jerseys and footballs (10) towards preparations for next season
Prior to the start of the Top 8, each team received GH¢500 as preparation fee towards the tournament.
The Suhum MP commended MultiChoice Ghana for sponsoring the top eight after promising to sponsor the competition every year in the municipality, having given out cash prizes and medals worth ¢25,000 for the tournament.
FROM Daniel Bampoe, Suhum