April 27

DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Sports
DAILY HERITAGE
FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2018
15
GBA wishes
Dogboe success in
tomorrow’s bout
Beach
soccer to be
re-launch
with Unity
Cup
SPORTS DESK REPORT
THE GHANA Boxing
Authority (GBA) has delivered
a victory message
to WBO Super Bantamweight
Interim
Champion, Isaac Dogboe, as he faces
fellow unbeaten Mexican Jessie Magdaleno
for his WBO title this Saturday
in Philadelphia, United States of
America.
The goodwill message issued by
the Communications Department of
the Authority said “we know you are
the ‘Rising Star of Africa and the
Royal Storm’. The GBA and people
of Ghana believe in you and know
you have what it takes to be like our
champions - D. K. Poison, Azumah
Nelson, Ike Quartey, Nana Yaw
Konadu, Alfred Kotey, Joseph Agbeko,
Joshua Clottey and Emmanuel
Tagoe - because you are Ghanaian
warrior.”
According to the message, the
GBA said Dogboe is self-motivated
and has the self-reliance to win the
• Peter
Zwennes,
president of
the Ghana
Boxing
Authority
• Isaac Dogboe,
boxer
bout as Dogboe is of a special class
who has what it takes to win.
GBA, however, cautioned Team
Dogboe not to be over-confident,
but be professional and determined
to go all out for a knock-out to make
the work of the ring officials easy.
Dogboe holds the WBO Interim,
Africa, and Pacific Unified titles as
well as the WBC Youth title belts.
In 2012, he represented Ghana at
the 2012 Olympic Games. As a professional,
he is unbeaten in 18 fights
and trained by his father, Mr Paul
Dogboe, who was honoured by the
Sports Writers Association of Ghana
(SWAG) as ‘Coach of the Year’ at
their last awards event.
AFTER A year of inactivity and a
sponsorship crunch, one of Ghana's
fastest-growing sports, beach soccer,
is set for a big comeback.
This was confirmed to the Ghana
News Agency by the President of the
Ghana Beach Soccer Association, Mr
Yaw Ampofo Ankrah.
He said several meetings had successfully
been held with sponsors and
potential partners to re-launch the
sport which took Ghana by storm a
few years ago.
"Yes, I can confirm that Kasapreko
is on board, along with Pulse
Ghana, YFM, Kwesé TV and other
media partners. Our long term partners
and sponsors CAL Bank would
also announce their new package for
Ghana beach soccer soon.
“I cannot disclose more than this
because the official unveiling and
media launch would be held next
week where full details would be
made available,” he said.
Beach soccer recently went
through a dry patch with the association
struggling to secure major financial
backing for an ambitious national
championship.
This stalled plans for a nationwide
expansion of the sport, which led to
clubs being inactive for two seasons.
However, following series of
meetings with Mr Felix Ansong, the
newly appointed CAF beach soccer
committee member, as well as other
key stakeholders, it is understood that
technical, financial and logistical support
would now be available to
Ghana Beach Soccer.
Significantly, in line with the new
beach soccer structures approved by
FIFA in 2017, the Ghana Football
Association would be supporting the
sport via FIFA beach soccer development
funds.
The Ministry of Tourism and
Ghana Tourism Authority are also expected
to play supporting roles with a
drive to boost sports tourism in the
country through beach soccer entertainment.
Perhaps the biggest trump card to
boost the coastal sport is the inclusion
of household musicians, who
would be performing live at Beach
Soccer venues across the Central,
Western, Volta and Greater Accra regions.
The venue of the 2018 Unity Cup
would be the Laboma Beach Resort
in La, Accra, where each coastal region
would present a team to challenge
for the trophy.