'Ghana beach soccer will rise'

Yaw Ampofo-Ankrah, President of the Ghana Beach Soccer Association, is bullish about the sport's prospects in Ghana.

Ampofo-Ankrah says by 2017 beach soccer will be the number two sport in Ghana after football, while the national men's beach soccer team - Black Sharks - can be Africa's number one beach soccer side.

Ankrah, founder and president of Ghana's fastest growing team sport in the country, has overseen the rise of the Black Sharks which was only constituted in 2013 but is currently ranked 19th by Fifa.

The team narrowly missed out on World Cup qualification but claimed the Afcon beach soccer goal king gong when Alexander Adjei grabbed 17 goals.

“With a meagre budget of just 44 000 cedis ($4 000) a season for the league and a further $20 000 a year for the national team, beach soccer is probably the most efficiently run sporting discipline in Ghana.”

He also believes that once the media pay more attention to beach soccer with live commentaries and discussions, the sport will take off nationwide.