The GFA Foundation has extended relief to former Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Black Stars Goalkeeper, Sampson Appiah, with an amount of Ten Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS10,000.00).
The gesture is the latest in the series of donations to usher in the GFA Foundation after its establishment and launch in April 2023.
Interacting with some members of the Association of Kotoko Legends in Kumasi over the weekend, the President of the Ghana Football Association, Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku, advised the current crop of players to take their health very seriously.
He admonished them to do regular health check-ups so that any concerns detected can be treated early before it gets complicated.
The Foundation’s goodwill train to Kumasi was to support the former Goalkeeper who is also a Goalkeeper’s Coach and to demonstrate the Foundation’s commitment in spreading its social intervention tentacles across the country.
President Simeon-Okraku thanked Sampson Appiah for his contribution towards the game, the Black Stars and expressed his delight to see him walking through with an aid.
“This gesture is the Foundation’s token to encourage others, individuals and organizations to follow suit”, President Simeon-Okraku intimated.
Receiving the cheque, the former Asante Kotoko goalkeeper Coach expressed his heartfelt appreciation to the GFA Foundation and the President for coming to see him in Kumasi and for the financial relief provided.
He said it’s been a year and four months since he had his spine surgery and has since resumed his physiotherapy session at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
Mr Appiah praised the Kotoko Legends for their immense support to him all these years without which he would have been found wanting.
Malcolm Frazier Appeadu, the Director of the GFA Foundation, said he will follow Appiah’s path to recovery by checking up on him regularly. He indicated that the Foundation will liaise with the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital to ensure that he gets the full complement of his physiotherapy sessions without any challenges.
Malcolm took the opportunity to invite individuals and organisations to partner with the Foundation in its activities and programmes.
The President of the Association of Kotoko Legends, George Kennedy who led other legends to come and support Mr. Appiah to receive the gesture said, the concept of the GFA Foundation was unprecedented in the annals of Ghana Football.
He asked for God’s blessings for the President of the Football Association for birthing such a noble idea. Kennedy believes the Foundation will be a good legacy for the FA President.
Sampson Appiah played for the Black Stars from 1983 to 1990. He joined Kumasi Asante Kotoko from Okwahu United together with Opeele Aboagye and Agyeman Duah.
Some of his playing mates at Kotoko were Coach Akwasi Appiah, Frimpong Manso, Emmanuel Ampiah and Thomas Boakye. Mr Appiah also played for Kumasi Cornerstone and was a member of the WAFU Cup-winning squad in 1987.
He later became Kotoko’s Goalkeeper’s Coach and was part of the Kotoko Team that had a fatal accident in 2017 after honouring a Premier League match with Inter Allies.
Present at the donation ceremony were the Ashanti Regional Football Association Chairman, Mr Osei Tutu Agyeman alias Kotoro and some Kotoko legends including Opoku Nti, Ibrahim Gariba and Joe Mensah.
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