Government must invest youth football development-Stephen Appiah

Icon for the Milo U-13 Champions League, Stephen Appiah has called on government to invest more in youth football development.

Speaking at the launch of this years championship in Accra, the former captain of the Black Stars said, investing in youth football would guarantee strong national teams in the future.

 

"Government and corporate entities must channel resources towards youth football development as it would go a long way to help raise talents for the country,"he stated.

 

Minister of Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah said, government would take up the challenge.

"The Ministry is excited that over the years, we have been collaborating with Milo and the Ghana Education Service to promote grassroots football", he stated. 

 

He added that, the competition serves as a great platform not only for football but also where values such as discipline, honesty, perseverance, teamwork and dedication among others would be expressed. 

 

 

The Ministry he said would continue to support the event urging organizers to include females in the next edition of the competition. 

 

Deputy Minister of Education, Barbara Ayisi Asher said, government is excited with the competition as it combines education with football. 

 

"It is important for our kids not to abandon the classroom for football and grateful to Nestle for the initiative", she stated. 

 

Managing Director of Nestle Ghana, Freda Duplan said Milo has been organizing the Champions League for the past four years and would continue to build champions. 

 

"The league is a football season for basic schools in Ghana which seeks to encourage grassroots sports participation for younger generation whiles creating the link between the importance of sports and education”. 

 

She is also looking forward to another exciting journey across the regions especially the finals the central region.

 

Over 10,000 pupils from the 10 regions of the country are expected to participate in the fourth edition of the event. 

 

Grouped into four Zones with 12 teams in each zone, the event would begin on May 17 to June 24 where the grand finale would be held at Elmina in the Central region. 

 

Zone one includes, four teams each from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West region and their event would be held at the Tamale(Tamasco/Nobisco) from May 17 to May 19.

 

It would be followed by Zone two which comprises six schools each from Brong Ahafo and Ashanti. They would compete at the Sunyani Senior High School from May 24 to May 26.

 

The Western and Central region would be in Zone three with six schools each from the regions converging at the Ghana Secondary Technical School on May 31 to June 2 for battle. 

 

The train would head to Accra(Zone Four) , precisely the Presbyterian Boys School, Legon where four teams each from the Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta regions competing for honours between June 7 to June 9.

 

Champions from the four zonal leagues would qualify for the National finals between June 20 to June 24 where an overall champion for the year would emerge.