On Wednesday, the revived GFA Gala was launched at the premises of the Ghana Football Association’s Secretariat.
Present at the event were members of the Oranzing Committee – Kurt Okraku, Delali Senaye, Frank Nelson, Isaac Addo – the GFA’s General Secretary, PLB Chairman Ashford Tettey Oku and Vincent Yu from headline sponsors StarTimes.
The 2017/18 GFA-StarTimes Gala is fixed for February 3 and 4.
Here are the most important takeaways from the press launch:
Participating teams
It is a 16-club competition – 11 from Premier League and five Division One League sides. Clubs are to report to the appointed match officials an hour before kickoff. Each club is allowed to register a squad of 30 players for the Gala.
Premier League: Berekum Chelsea, Bechem United, Inter Allies, Eleven Wonders, Dreams FC, Medeama, Elmina Sharks, Ebusua Dwarfs, Hearts of Oak, Wa All Stars and Asante Kotoko.
Division One: Great Olympics, NEA Salamina, Vision FC, New Edubiase and FC Samartex
Format and pairings
The competiiton will be played on a knockout basis – on a 20 minutes per half from the preliminary round. At the semifinal stage, each game will last one hour.
The prelims kick-start at 10 am on Saturday February 3. Pairings:
- XI Wonders vs New Edubiase
- Ebusua Dwarfs vs Inter Allies
- Kotoko vs Elmina Sharks
- Medeama vs Berekum Chelsea
- Vision FC vs Wa All Stars
- Hearts of Oak vs Great Olympics
- Bechem United vs Nea Salamina
- Samartex vs Dreams FC
Quarterfinals (QF) – Sunday, February 4
Winner 1 vs Winner 2 – Kickoff: 10am
Winner 3 vs Winner 4 – Kickoff: 11am
Winner 5 vs Winner 6 – Kickoff: 12pm
Winner 7 vs Winner 8 – Kickoff: 1pm
Semifinals (SF) – Sunday, February 4
Winner QF1 vs Winner QF2 – Kickoff: 3pm
Winner QF3 vs Winner Q4 – Kickoff: 4pm
Final – Sunday, February 4
Winner SF 1 vs Winner SF2 – Kickoff: 6pm
Venue
The Nduom Stadium in Elmina and not Cape Coast has been confirmed to host the two-day Gala competition. Supporting sponsor, Groupe Nduom is providing accommodation, transportation and stadium for participating teams and officials.
GFA General Secretary Isaac Addo confirms that for the first time the Gala competition will be staged at the Nduom Stadium #StarTimesGFAGALA
— Ghana Football Association (@ghanafaofficial) January 24, 2018
TV Coverage
Major sponsors StarTimes have broadcast rights to the competition after pumping in $60,000. They will also provide live telecast of the competition from the semifinals stage (on Sunday).
Gala Competition Organising Committee Chairman Kurt Okraku acknowledges the tremendous support StarTimes is giving to Ghana Football #StarTimesGFAGALA
— Ghana Football Association (@ghanafaofficial) January 24, 2018
Rewards
The ultimate winner bags a $5,000 cash in total as well as the coveted trophy and medals.
Breakdown of prize money pool for the GFA/StarTimes Gala:
Appearance fee – $2,500 per club – (Totaling $40,000)
Last 4 teams – $500 each – (Totaling $2,000)
Runner-up – $1,000
Winner – $2,000
The Gala competition was last played in 2005 with Asante Kotoko emerging as winners.
