Let CAF awards spur you to greater heights, President advises African players
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged Ghanaian footballers playing in the country to be spurred on by the annual Confederation of African Football (CAF) awards to exhibit the highest standards in their football careers.
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Such a motivation, the President added, should be the operative principle for all who plied the trade on the continent in order to fast-track the development of the game in Africa.
President Nana Akufo- Addo threw the challenge to African footballers when he received CAF President, Mr Ahmad Ahmad, CAF’s second-in-command, Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi, and other executive members of the continental body, at the Flagstaff House in Accra yesterday.
The continent’s football heavyweights paid a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo to formally invite him to the 2017 Aiteo CAF Awards to be held at the Accra International Conference this evening.
President Akufo-Addo recounted with glee, the passion with which Ghanaians and Africans in general followed football and stressed the for more proactive steps to be taken in developing the sport on the continent.
He lauded the efforts of the Ghana Football Association President, Mr Nyantakyi and former Ghana international Mr Anthony Baffoe, who have both risen to influential positions at CAF as First Vice President and Deputy General Secretary respectively, to positively project Ghana football.
For his part, Africa’s football chief expressed gratitude to President Akufo-Addo for the immense support he received from Ghana during the CAF elections which enable him to climb to the top position after deposing Alhaji Issa Hayatou after 29 years as head of the continent’s football governing body.
Later, Mr Nyantakyi briefed the President about details of tonight’s event, including the flagship African Footballer of the Year award to be contested by Senegal’s Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah of Egypt and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon.
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