THE Upper West Regional Football Association (RFA) has proposed that the Wa Sports Stadium be named after Malik Jabir.
The decision, according to the RFA chairman Alhaji Sadugu Yahaya, is to follow the example of similar honours that have been bestowed on others and also show recognition to all that Mr Jabir who is a true son of the area, had done over the years towards the development and growth of football in the region and the country at large.
To this end, Alhaji Yahaya said, the RFA intends to organize a special football match between Kumasi Asante Kotoko, where Mr Jabir had his football career as a player and a coach and Wa All Stars at the end of the season to formally honour him.
He said the region has produced two great footballers in the persons of Coach Jabir and Baba Yara who hailed from Zini in the Sissala West District, adding that the former has already been honoured by naming the Kumasi stadium after him.
Malik Jabir who is presently a coach and a football administrator was born in December 1946.
Apart from the City and Guilds of London, Institute Intermediate certificate in electronics which he received in1968, the whole life of Coach Jabir has been football.
He joined Kumasi Asante Kotoko in 1964 and remained a regular player of the Porcupine Warriors until 1977. During that period he played seven African Champion’s League editions and won the cup in 1971. He also captained the team for close to five years.
Coach Malik as he is affectionately called, was very key in the 1968 African Cup of Nations in Sudan in 1970 and also played for the Ghana national team in the 1968 Olympic Games held in Mexico. He was a member and captain of the national academicals between 1966 and 1969. He played for an African select side in Brazil and in Mexico in 1972 and 1973 respectively.
Mr Jabir did not only play for his idol club Kumasi Asante Kotoko but handled the team and groomed a lot of youth talents. He was the coach of Asante Kotoko from 1981 to 89.
Coach Jabir also had a stint with Arsenal FC of the English Premiership. He also completed a coaching course at Lilishall Sports Center in London.
Coach Jabir has also handled teams like Etalon, the national team of Burkina Faso, ASFA Yenenga also in Burkina Faso as well as a technical advisor to Kano Pillars of Nigeria.
He has won a number of awards including being voted the best coach in Burkina Faso in 1990.
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