Ben Koufie (5 June 1932 – 4 July 2016) was a Ghanaian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player, coach, and administrator.

Playing career

Koufie played club football for Cornerstones and

Ebusua Dwarfs Cape Coast Mysterious Ebusua Dwarfs is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Cape Coast. The club competes in the Ghana Premier League, the Premier division on the Ghanaian football pyramid, and hold home games at Cape Coast Sports Stadi ...

, and represented the national side from 1957 to 1958.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Koufie became a coach of the Ghana national team, and managed

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

from 1988 to 1992. He led Ghanaian club

Asante Kotoko Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''Porcupine Warriors'', they compete in the Ghana Premier Lea ...

to the Africa Club Championship in 1971, and

Great Olympics Accra Great Olympics is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Accra, Greater Accra. The club is currently competing in the Ghana Premier League. It has won the Ghana Premier League twice, in 1970, 1974 and the Ghana FA Cup thrice, in 197 ...

to the semi-finals a year later. He also coached Ivorian team

Africa Sports Africa Sports d'Abidjan is an Ivorian multi-sports club founded in 1947 and based in Abidjan. The club fields teams in the sports of track and field, handball, basketball and association football, of these the football team is the most prominen ...

, and in Ghana with Akosombo Akotex.

Administrative career

Koufie was the technical advisor to the

Zimbabwe Football Association The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) is the governing body of football in Zimbabwe. It is responsible for organising national football competitions in Zimbabwe and managing the Zimbabwe national football teams. The current ZIFA was founded ...

from 1981 to 1982, technical director of the

Botswana Football Association The Botswana Football Association (BFA) is the governing body of association football in Botswana, and controls the national football team. It is an affiliate of FIFA, CAF and the COSAFA. National football leagues include the beMOBILE Premier ...

from 1992 to 2001, and president of the

Ghana Football Association The Ghana Football Association (GFA) is a governing body of association football, based in Accra. Founded in 1957, it was dissolved with "immediate effect", according to Minister of Sport, Isaac Kwame Asiamah, on 7 June 2018, after the uncoverin ...

from 2001 to 2003.

Death

Koufie died on 4 July 2016 at the

Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) is a public teaching hospital located in the Ablekuma South Metropolitan District in Accra, Ghana. It is the only public tertiary hospital in the southern part of the country. It is a teaching hospital affiliate ...

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

from an undisclosed illness. He was 84.

Honours

There have been calls to rename the

Cape Coast Sports Stadium Cape Coast Sports Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Cape Coast, Central Region, Ghana. It is used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Ebusua Dwarfs. The stadium holds 20,000 people. Stadium etymology Construction Cap ...

after Koufie.

References

1932 births 2016 deaths Ghanaian men's footballers Ghana men's international footballers Cornerstone F.C. players Ghanaian football managers Ghana national football team managers Zimbabwe national football team managers Accra Great Olympics F.C. managers Ghanaian expatriate football managers Presidents of the Ghana Football Association Ghanaian football chairmen and investors Men's association football players not categorized by position {{Ghana-footy-bio-stub