Gumani FC have completed a remarkable turnaround, moving from fourth place in last year’s MTN SavannahFest football gala to champions of the 2026 edition after beating Sakasaka FC 2-0 in Saturday’s final at the NOBISCO Football Park in Tamale.
The victory earned Gumani FC the championship trophy and GH¢20,000, while Sakasaka FC received GH¢10,000 as runners-up.
Sabonjida FC secured third place after beating Shishegu FC 1-0 in the third-place playoff and took home GH¢5,000.
All participating teams were also presented with trophies and medals.
From fourth place to champions
For Gumani coach Abdul Latif Wakil, the championship was the reward for a deliberate effort to learn from last year’s campaign and prepare differently.
Wakil said Gumani were among the teams that competed in last year’s gala but could only finish fourth.
The team subsequently returned to the community to reflect on its performance and identify what needed to change before the next competition.
According to him, that introspection and improved preparation helped Gumani return this year as a more competitive side, eventually reaching the final and defeating Sakasaka to claim the title.
The coach believes the tournament can also serve as a pathway for talented players if MTN Ghana introduces football scouts in subsequent editions.
He suggested that scouts could attend the games to identify players who put up impressive performances and recommend them to local or foreign clubs.
Such an initiative, he said, could give some of the young players competing in the gala an opportunity to progress beyond community football.
Wakil also said Gumani’s GH¢20,000 prize money would be presented to community leaders so that the team and the community could collectively determine how the money should be used.
Sakasaka count on lessons from defeat
Sakasaka coach Safianu Yassir accepted the final defeat but said his players had performed well during the match.
“When you look at the game and how we started, our team played very well. But at the end of the game, luck was not on our side,” he said.
Yassir said the experience would provide an opportunity for the team to return stronger in future competitions.
His comments came after Sakasaka had progressed through a competitive campaign to reach the final.
16 teams compete as gala expands
The 2026 football gala featured 16 teams, double the number that participated in the previous edition.
MTN Retail Experience Manager for the North, Kwami Aseye Akude, said the expansion helped bring more communities together while creating opportunities for local football talent.
“Last year we had just about eight teams taking part. This year, we had 16 good teams taking part,” Akude said.
He said the increased participation was part of what made this year’s competition particularly significant for MTN.
Akude also said SavannahFest had been running for more than 10 years, with the football gala itself approaching a decade.
“This is one of the ones that I can say has been very big and better than the ones we have done over the years,” he said.
Football caps month-long SavannahFest
The football final brought the curtain down on a month-long SavannahFest programme held as part of MTN Ghana’s 30th anniversary celebrations.
The festival began with its launch on September 16 and featured a series of activities, including the football gala, a music concert, community clean-up, health walk and free health screening.
The music concert at the Modern City Hotel featured performances by artistes including Fancy Gadam, King Ayisoba and Samini, while the health walk and screening brought together MTN staff and members of keep-fit clubs.
The festival also featured a clean-up exercise and other entertainment activities before the football gala reached its climax with Saturday’s final.
Akude said this year’s festival was particularly significant because it coincided with MTN Ghana’s 30th anniversary celebration.
He said the anniversary was an opportunity for the company to appreciate its customers for the progress made over the past three decades, under the theme “30 Years of Progress, Powered by You, Our Customers.”
With Gumani now holding the trophy, Akude said MTN would seek to make next year’s edition bigger and better.
“We hope that next year we will make it bigger and better than this year,” he said.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
