TeamIMANI and TackleAfrica ahead of the iPay2Play charity tournament

Emmanuel Frimpong headed list of professional stars raising money and awareness at a charity tournament in aid of TackleAfrika.

iPAY2PLAY is an event involving professional athletes and celebrities aiming to use sports as a tool to raise funds for charity projects in Africa and other developing countries. The event, which took place at Wembley, was the first of its kind anywhere in the world and organised by Peterborough and Congo star Gabriel Zakuani and Papa Agyemang, former Ghana U21 player and founder of TeamIMANI.

3 teams of professional footballers including Frimpong (Arsenal), Zakuani, Lomana Tresor LuaLua (Blackpool and DR Congo), Nile Ranger (Newcastle) and England Ladies star Eniola Aluko took part in the tournament, with Ranger’s team eventually crowned champions.

The event – covered on Sky Sports News and other networks – has generated huge awareness as well as raising thousands of pounds.

TackleAfrica is a UK registered charity that delivers HIV education through football coaching to tens of thousands of young people across Africa. Approximately 23 million Africans are currently living with HIV and about 1.4 million die of AIDS-related illnesses each year. In 2011, TackleAfrica reached 14,000 young Africans with an hour of HIV education through football coaching every week.

Gabriel Zakuani, Eniola Aluko, Emmanuel Frimpong and Nile Ranger

In June 2012, Gabriel Zakuani will visit TackleAfrica’s project in Ghana and help support local coaches to deliver regular HIV education through football coaching to vulnerable young people.    He will visit projects in both Accra and Tamale and help raise funds and awareness for TackleAfrica’s work.

Zakuani said:   “I think it’s really important that those of us that have made a living from the game of football can now use the very same game to give something back to young people in Africa.   The way TackleAfrica use football to deliver HIV education is fantastic, and I can’t wait to get involved on the ground in Ghana”

TackleAfrica CEO Charlie Gamble said:   “To have the support of professional footballers who are prepared to raise funds and put their own hands in their pockets is a real endorsement of our work.   We’d like to thank TeamIMANI and look forward to Gabriel’s project in Ghana which will have a powerful impact on the young people we support”

Read more about TackleAfrica here: TackleAfrica Facing Up To HIV Fears Head On