The Referee’s Appointment Committee of the Ghana Football Association has appointed Referee Awal Mohammed to officiate the 2015/16 MTN FA Cup Grand Finale.
Below is the full list of Match Officials for the MTN FA Cup grand finale:
MATCH: Bechem United vs Okwawu United
VENUE: Cape Coast
REF: Awal Mohammmed
ASST: Eric O Mensah
ASST: Frank Bossman
4TH REF: J. A Amenya
MC: Albert Commey
Kick for the 2015/16 MTN FA Cup Grand finals between Premier League side Bechem United and Division One side Okwahu United is 6:30PM.
The FA Cup trophy has finally arrived in Cape Coast ahead of Sunday’s MTN FA Cup Grand Finale between Bechem United and Okwahu United which will be played at the New Cape Coast Stadium.
A giant FA Cup trophy was paraded through the principal streets of Nkawkaw and Bechem where this year’s finalists are coming from.
It was also officially presented to some chiefs of the Kwahu Traditional area and displayed at the palace of the Chief of Bechem for public viewing.
After its return to Accra, the trophy was then ferried by canoe to Mankessim where it was received by the Chiefs before it was paraded through the principle streets on its way to Cape Coast.
The trophy arrived in Cape Coast on Tuesday August 30 and was carried to the palace of the Oguaamanhene Osabarima Kwasi Atta with his sub chiefs and elders in attendance.
The trophy will be displayed at the public durbar on Saturday September 3 as part of activities for the ongoing Oguaa Fetu Afahye before making its way into the Cape Coast Stadium on Sunday for the grand finale of this year’s edition of the competition.
Second tier side Okwahu who won the FA Cup in 1986 will hope to win this year’s edition as they come up against their Premier League opponents.
The Kumasi Baba Yara Stadium will witness two exciting games on Sunday when Okwahu United and Wa Rockets face their top flight opponents in the MTN FA Cup semi-final games.
Medeama won the 2015 MTN FA Cup
Okwahu United who are the only club among the four semi-finalists to have won the competition, will face Liberty Professionals while Wa Rockets take on Bechem United.
All four teams had interesting runs to the semis but Wa Rockets are widely considered as the surprise package of this years competition.
The Division One club defeated Asokwa Deportivo in the Round of 16 before handing Premier League side Wa All Stars a shocking 1-0 defeat in their quarter final derby.
Fellow second tier side Okwahu United made it to this stage after eliminating Dreams FC, Dunkwa United, Hasaacas and another premier league side WAFA in the quarter final stage.
For the premier league sides, Liberty Professionals defeated Medeama, Pure Joy, FC Samartex and Elmina to book their place in Sunday’s semi finals games.
On their part, Bechem United reached this stage after victories over Paga Japan Stars,Sunyani Liberty, RTU and knocked out last year’s finalists Asante Kotoko through penalty shoot outs in the quarter finals.
All four teams are poised to book a place in the grand finale set for September 4 at the New Cape Coast Stadium.
At yesterday’s pre match press conference, head coach for Bechem United and Okwahu United were both confident that their respective teams has what it takes to make it into the finals of this year’s competition.
Backing his claim to a place in the finals, Bechem United’s coach Manuel Zacharia stated that: “my team will play an entertaining game on Sunday and if we are able to get fair officiating, am confident we will make it to the final and hopefully win the competition for our fans”.
Acting coach for Okwahu United Ibrahim Merigah who coincidently played in the side that won the 1986 edition of the FA Cup, also insisted that his team has what it takes to scale over Liberty Professionals and make it to the grand finale.
“It’s been exactly 30 years since we won the FA Cup and my team has assured me that they also want to enter the history books of the club as the players who won the second FA Cup trophy for Okwahu”,the ex Okwahu player said.
An Official of Wa Rockets, Mr. Ampem Darko who revealed that the team is in a camping base in Kumasi called on fans of Asante Kotoko to come to the Baba Yara Stadium as they seek to defeat Bechem United.
“We all know fans of Kotoko were not happy when Bechem defeated Kotoko in the quarter finals but we can assure them that Rockets will avenge that defeat for them. So all Kotoko should come to the stadium and we can assure that Wa Rockets will make them happy” , he said.
The semi final games which will be played in the first ever double header games, will see Bechem United take on Wa Rockets at 3pm while Okwahu United face Liberty Professionals at 6pm.
Eight clubs are eagerly awaiting Tuesday’s draw for the MTN FA Cup quarter-finals which will be held at the Alisa Hotel at 10:00am.
The qualified teams for the fifth round of the Cup competition includes three second-tier sides and five premiership clubs, who are all dreaming of a place in the semi-final.
Last year’s FA Cup finalists Asante Kotoko and current Premier League leaders Wa All Stars will go into the hat as well as Division One (Zone Two) leaders Elmina Sharks, Liberty Professionals, Bechem United and WAFA.
Though some fascinating ties could be thrown up, some Premier League sides would be desperate avoid each other in the quarter-final as the open system draw could throw up some interesting ties.
The competition is guaranteed a new winner following last year’s winners Medeama’s early exit.
This year’s grand final will be staged at the New Cape Coast Stadium on Sunday August 28.
Qualified teams for the Draw that will be held on June 7:
This year’s MTN FA Cup Competition has reached the Round of 16 with the live draw scheduled for Tuesday May 3, 2016 at the Alisa Hotel in Accra.
The next round of matches will be represented by 10 lower division clubs with six Premier League clubs which really sets up a fascinating round in the competition
MTN FA Cup last 16 Clubs
Asokwa Deportivo
Asante Kotoko
West Africa Football Academy (WAFA)
Samartex FC
Emmanuel FC
Liberty Professionals
Elmina Sharks
Wamanafo Mighty Royals
Real Tamale United
Bechem United
Storm Academy
True Democracy FC
Wa Rockets
Sekondi Hasaacas
Okwawu United
The Grand Final is scheduled for Sunday, August 28, 2016.
