The president of the Ghana Blind Sports Association, Eric Kissi, has said he is optimistic about successfully hosting and winning the 2021 International Blind Sports Goalball African Championship.
The continental tournament is set to take place at Cape Coast from the 3rd to 11th December 2021.
The host nation, Ghana, will be joined by seven participating African countries including Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Algeria, Cote D’Ivoire and Nigeria.
“I am very confident. It’s not that we just sat down and called people to come to play goalball in the name of Ghana. We have the players. We have trained them. They are capable of winning the trophy and we believe in them”, Eric Kissi told the media at the launch of the 2021 IBSA Goalball African Championship at the DG Hathramani Hall of the Accra Sports Stadium.
“They have played at the regional level, national level and school level. They have all the techniques that one has to have when playing goalball. We have been able to select the best,” he added.
Meanwhile, the National Paralympic Committee has promised to relay their support to the Ghana Blind Sports Association.
Secretary-General of the NPC-Ghana, Peter Adjei told the media: “The next Paralympic Games will be held in Paris in 2024 and the NPC- Ghana led by President Samson Deen is ready to back you to host this important competition to make a mark and continue to progress in other competitions till you get to the Paralympic Games in Paris.
This will be Ghana’s first time hosting the Africa goalball championship which doubles as a qualifier for the 2022 IBSA Goalball World Championships in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.
The World event will be from 6th to 18 July 2022 with qualifying slots available for the top three teams in the male and female categories.