Nestle enters into juvenile development partnership with GFA

Accra, Nov 29, GNA - Nestle Ghana Limited has entered into a partnership with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to develop juvenile football in the country.

The partnership is in is line with the food producing company's commitment to sports development, especially at the grassroots level. Mr Herve Duranton, Managing Director of Nestle Ghana Limited who announced this during the launch of the Milo Cubs Championship on Wednesday in Accra said the partnership, which takes effect next year, will see his company promoting juvenile football across the country. This, he said will provide an opportunity for the youth to discover their latent talents and deploy them effectively for the benefit of themselves and society as a whole. Kwesi Nyantakyi, President of the GFA said the partnership with the country's largest food producing company is a giant leap in their efforts to build a strong foundation towards the development of the world's most popular sport.

He emphasized that the future belongs to the youth and it is against this backdrop that juvenile football runs high in the development plan of the Association.

Mr Nyantakyi said that the Association considers education as a very key segment in the sport development, especially soccer, adding that the FA is therefore taking steps to ensure that every footballer has at least some level of education.

The organizers, Nestle has accordingly invested an estimated 180,000 cedis into the Milo Cubs Championships, which will have U-12 and U-15 male teams across the country participating. The tournament is being organized in collaboration with the GFA and the Ghana Education Service (GES).

The country will be grouped into two zones; Northern and Southern Zones with six teams from each zone comprising of one team from each region with the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions presenting two teams each.

The Northern Zone tournament is scheduled for Sunyani from December 14-16 with the Southern Zone tourney fixed for December 19-20 at Koforidua. Two teams will be selected for the semi-finals and finals slated for Accra between January 15 to 16. The winner of the U-15 will take home GH=A21000 (=A210,000,000), a giant trophy and Milo products whilst the winner of the U-12 pockets GH=A2600 (=A26,000,000), a trophy and Milo products.