Thirty Zongo communities from various parts of the country will participate in the 8th edition of the annual Sheikh Sharubutu Ramadan Cup at the end of the month.
The 8th edition of the annual Sheikh Sharubutu Ramadan Cup was launched in Accra on Thursday, April 6.
The Ramadan Cup, a community football tournament involving Zongo communities, is named after Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu to honour the National Chief Imam.
The main objective of the competition, organisers explain, is to bring youth from Zongo communities together to promote peace, unity and discipline, as well as provide a national platform for talent display and recovery.
Launching the 8th edition, Minister for Youth and Sports Mustapha Ussif commended organisers of the tournament for sustaining such a tournament with noble objectives.
“Two key objective of the Sheikh Sharubutu Ramadan Cup, which I believe had been achieved, is using it to celebrate our iconic father, the National Chief Imam, and also bringing the youth in communities together,” Mustapha Ussif said.
“So far, the tournament has become synonymous with Sheikh Sharubutu, which shows that celebrating him through the tournament has been achieved. And considering the number of communities involved in the competition, the number of youth who come together to participate and watch, the business activities that go on around the stadium, the sporting icons who come together to watch the event, it is clear the objective of bringing the youth and communities together has been achieved,” the Sports Minister added.
The Member of Parliament for Yendi and Chairman of the Muslim Caucus of Parliament, Farouk Aliu Mahama, who was the Chairman for the launch, urged participating communities and the youth to continue to be guided by the objectives of the tournament, which he said, reflects the persona of the National Chief Imam.
The Founder of the tournament, Tamimu Issah, expressed delight and appreciation to all stakeholders for the strides the tournament has made in eight years, recalling how the competition began on what he called “a modest note” in 2015 with eight Zongo communities.
After 28 communities participated in last year’s edition, Tamimu Issah announced that the tournament has once again been expanded to 30 Zongo communities with Kumasi Zongo and Adabraka Zongo as new entrants.
A live draw was conducted for the preliminary stage of the tournament, which kicks off on Saturday, April 29 and ends on Sunday April 30, 2023 at the end of Ramadan.
Present at the ceremony included Mustapha Ussif, the Minister for Youth and Sports, Farouk Aliu Mahama, MP for Yendi and Board Chairman of Integrated Aluminium Company, Prosper Harrison Addo, General Secretary of Ghana Football Association, and Alhaji Abdul Latif, Director of Protocol of Office of National Chief Imam, who represented the National Chief Imam, Ibrahim Tanko, Head Coach of the National Under-23 football team and representatives of the communities.
Below are the preliminary fixtures:
1. ANYAA ZONGO
2. COWLANE
3. ASHALE BOTWE
4. TUDU
5. ODA ZONGO
6. DARKUMAN
7. NSAWAM ZONGO
8. ACCRA NEW TOWN
9. OFIE AKUAPEM ZONGO
10. FADAMA
11. KANESHIE NIGHT MARKET
12. MAMOBI
13. TEMA ZONGO
14. KASOA
15. ALAJO
16. NUNGUA ZONGO
17. SALAGA
18. NIMA
19. TUNGA
20. KOFORIDUA
21. YENDI
22. ASHAIMAN
23. ABEKA
24. MADINA
25. SHUKURA
26. SABON ZONGO
27. SUHUM
28. HOHOE ZONGO
NEW ADDITIONS
29. ADABRAKA
30. KUMASI ZONGO