Gala commences on Saturday

Accra, April 7, GNA - The maiden Ghana Telecom (GT) sponsored gala soccer competition dubbed "One Touch Gala" kick-starts on Saturday and ends on Sunday at the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium.

It is the first time the telecommunication company is sponsoring the competition in its 24-year history to herald the commencement of the national Premier league.

The competition, previously known as the "Guinness Gala" would bounce back this weekend after a two-year break.

The top four teams in last season's structured Premier were seeded at Wednesday's launch in Accra, which also unveiled some interesting pairings for the two-day competition.

Top on the pack is a crunch duel between King Faisal and AshantiGold, while current league champions Accra Hearts were handed what seemed like an easy task against newly promoted side Kade Hotpurs. Real Tamale United (RTU) come up against Okwawu United, Power FC would tap the rich experience of their new coach Bashiru Hayford to scale over Liberty professionals while Top Four Champions, Heart of Lions lock horns with Bofoakwa Tano.

Feyenoord confront "returnees" Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs, Berekum Arsenals clash with Real Sportive, while premier league survivals Sekondi Hasaacas take on Kumasi Asante Kotoko. Eight qualified teams from the first round would move to the next stage on Sunday.

According to the pairings, the winner of Faisal and Ashgold encounter would face the winner of RTU and Okwawu match while the winner of the Power/Liberty clash meet the winner of the Hotspurs-Hearts, duel. The winner of Heart of Lions and Boafoakwa would come up against that of the Feyenoord/Dwarfs encounter while the winner of Sportive and Arsenal would sort things out with the winner of Hassacas/Kotoko match.