Cheetah FC owner wins Best Sports CEO awards at 40 Under Forty Achievers Awards

The owner of Cheetah Football Club, Abdul Hayye Yartey has won the best Sports CEO  award at the just ended 40 under Forty Achievers Awards held at Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra.

40 under Forty is an initiative from Xodus Communications Limited which seeks to identify, honour and celebrate a cross-section of the national most influential and accomplished young business leaders under the age of forty from a wide range of industries.

The prestigious awards is a recognition of his dedication and commitment in developing grassroot football, being the CEO of a highly respected football club advocating for best practices in the sector, as well as championing the development of other sporting disciplines and activities in Ghana.

Speaking to the media after receiving the awards, Abdul Hayye Yartey expressed gratitude to his family and everyone who have contributed to his success stories so far.

“I am grateful and honoured to win this award. It’s a good feeling when your works over the years have been recognized and awarded. I dedicate this award to my family, my staff, and to everyone who believes in me.

I hope to continue to use football and sports as a tool to help move talents from deprived areas to a comfortable setting

Cheetah Football Club is a Division Two side based in Kasoa. Through his hard work and leadership qualities, the club has built a reputation as one of the best-branded clubs in Ghana, and a club known for producing young talented players. Also as a scout, he scouts throughout Ghana and other African countries bring them into his club, develops and finds foreign and national teams opportunities for them. Some of his players are Christian Atsu, Alhassan Wakaso, Emmanuel Toku, Emmanuel Bio, Mohammed Iddriss, Ernest Ohemeng, Kwasi Sibo etc.

His efforts saw his club construct the biggest and best Astroturf pitch in Ghana, called the Yartel Okoso park( The Predators Den) in Senya Beraku.

He’s also the President of the Ghana Bodybuilding and Fitness Association (GBFA), he set out to bring competitive bodybuilding in Ghana by getting the National Sports Authority to inaugurate the GBFA in 2007. He got Ghana affiliated to the African and international Federation of Bodybuilding; as well as introducing the nation’s biggest bodybuilding competition, the Man Ghana Bodybuilding Championship and got Bodybuilders to compete internationally. His efforts saw Cyril Kofi Adjah winning Ghana first and only IFBB PRO Card in 2017.

In 2020 the sports writers association of Ghana awarded him with the meritorious award for his contribution towards the development of sports in Ghana. The same year, he was also elected as a member of the Central Region Football Association Executive Committee

In February 2021, he was elected as a member of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) and was later appointed the head of the GOC communications committee and as well as a member of the GOC games committee