The Minister of Youth and Sports,Dr. Mustapha Ahmed has on behalf of his Ministry and the Government of Ghana delivered a fitting tribute to the memory of the late Sir Cecil Jones Attuquayefio during his State pre-burial service held at the Forecourt of the Banquet Hall, at the State House in Accra.

The Minister was at the funeral at the head of a seven- member delegation from his Ministry to pay their last respects to the late national football coach.

In his tribute to the memory of the late coach the Minister acknowledged with grieving nostalgia the great contributions the late Attuquayefio has made to sports in general and football in particular during his days as a player and later on as a coach.

Dr. Mustapha Ahmed described him as a stalwart, a genius, an icon and a pace-setter in Ghanaian sports, particularly football.

The Youth and Sports Minister was full of praise for the life time achievements of Sir Jones as he chronicled the various teams and periods the legend has played for since the early 50’s,most especially his stint with the Ghana Academicals Team and The Republicans National Team established by Osagyefo Dr.Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President.

The Minister lauded the late Attuquayefio for his outstanding coaching career which brought good results to the country. Notably among them was his qualification of the Black Meteors in 1996 for the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States of America.

His efforts as a good coach brought honour to the nation when he took the National Under-17 team, the Black Starlets to win the African Under-17 Cup in Guinea and later to the World Under-17 tournament in New Zealand in 1999.

Dr.Mustapha Ahmed stated that it was not surprising that on the strength of these sterling achievements, the nation rewarded him with the award of Member of the Order of the Volta (Civil Division in 1973).

The Minister said the death of Sir Cecil Jones Attuquayefio was a great loss to the nation and he expressed the condolences of the Government and his Ministry to the bereaved wife and family as well as the entire sports fraternity and later laid a wreath on behalf of Government.

The Minister was accompanied by his Deputy, Hon. Vincent Oppong Asamoah, the Chief Director, Mr.Vincent Xola Senaya and the Director of Sports, Mr. Seth Osei-Agyen.