András Szabó, the Hungarian ambassador to Ghana, marked the arrival of a sport developed in his own country by presenting a teqball table to the Ghana Teqball Federation (GTF).

Szabó told a gathering that included the GTF President, Kofi Poku, the chief executive of Dreams Football Club, Kurt Okraku, and former Ghana striker Augustine Arhinful, that teqball "will be an Olympic sport in the near future".

He said teqball would aid the development of footballers in the country.

“We want to launch this sport in Ghana for two purposes,” he said, as reported by GhanaWeb.

“First is that this table was invented in order to enhance skills for young footballers.

"We all know that Ghana is a football superpower and this table can help the players develop their skills.

“All over Europe, big clubs have it and they use it for their players.

“The second part is that it has a commercial side.

“We would like to offer this table anywhere for people to play.

“It can be used in hotels and parks, kids can play it and this sport will be an Olympic sport in the near future so we want Ghana to be part of it.”

Poku promised that unlike other federations, who rely solely on Government for financial support, the GTF would make sure its activities were funded by corporate bodies.

"Basically, we are going to organise it like golf and I assure you, we are not going to rely on the Government to fund our activities,” Poku said.

“Teqball is not meant for only footballers and who knows, in future we could have a Ghanaian becoming an Olympic champion in the sport."

The grand launch of Ghana Teqball is set to be held later this year with former Brazil star Ronaldinho expected to be in attendance.

The launch in Ghana follows recent comments by International Teqball Federation (FITEQ) President Gábor Borsányi hailing the sport's rise in Africa after it was showcased in the inaugural African Beach Games last month.

The doubles tournament featured teams from 14 nations and was a demonstration event at the Games.

It was staged following the recent decision of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) to recognise teqball as an official sport.

"It gives me great pleasure to know teqball is growing here in Africa," Borsányi said.

"This is an historic moment for us to be recognised by ANOCA and to introduce teqball at the first African Beach Games.

"We would like to thank the people of Africa for embracing our sport and our dream of using teqball to help unite athletes and countries through sport."

FITEQ is set to dedicate significant resources to countries in Africa to help players work towards competing at more international events.

Viktor Huszár, FITEQ vice-president, revealed the body would donate 54 teqball tables to national Olympic centres to reach around 11 million children.