DASEBRE SUPPORTS SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE

THE Omanhene of New Juaben, Daasebre Professor (Emeritus) Oti Boateng has encouraged Ghanaians and the Black Stars to stay focused in the Ghana 2008 tournament.
A statement issued by him in Accra said the most compelling aspect of the game of football was its sheer unpredictability.
“That is why the game continues to captivate the minds of several millions world-wide,” he said.
He pointed out that if there was absolute certainty and precision, the game would have lost much of its appeal.
He said all the 16 teams were in the competition with the supreme purpose of winning the trophy but at the end of the competition, only one would be crowned the “Champion of African Football.”
Daasebre Boateng said that was why currently at a crucial stage in the tournament, when the Black Stars had been able to get the maximum six points out of two matches played so far, no Ghanaian had to be disappointed but rather give their unflinching support to the Stars.
He added that the Black Stars needed the crucial spiritual contemplation to stay focused and rise to the challenge and encouraged all to support them to win the trophy for the country.
Daasebre Boateng recalled his appeal to all chiefs at a Festival of Arts and Culture in Kumasi, to support the Stars, telling them that “Football is not only a game, it is also tradition”.
The festival was also used to showcase and formally present the real trophy of the tournament to the chiefs.
Daasebre Boateng, who represented the traditional leaders of the Eastern Region at the Festival, said President J. A. Kufuor’s directive for the trophy to be presented to the chiefs at the festival, showed the President’s recognition of the importance of the chieftaincy institution in the development of sports, particularly football in the country.
He said the gesture of the President redefined the support base of football in the country to include chiefs and all the people of the country, contrary to what hitherto had been vaguely defined as “fans”.
Daasebre Boateng expressed the hope that the new concept would be an “important moral booster” and “an essential psychological prerequisite” for a winning team such as the Black Stars of Ghana.

DAILY GRAPHIC, SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 2008