13th African Games: Ghana Athletics to call up 36 athletes
Ghana Athletics, the governing body for athletics in the country, will send a 36-member contingent of athletes and 10 coaches to represent the country at the 13th African Games, scheduled for March 4-23, 2024, in Accra.
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The contingent, to be announced on February 26 in Accra, will comprise 18 men and 18 women, selected based on established criteria published last year.
Ghana athletics chief, Bawah Fuseini, gave assurance that the selection process would be objective and free from external influence.
To meet the February 27 deadline set by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), the local athletics governing body will submit the finalised list to the Ministry of Youth and Sports through the Chef de Mission, Ernest Danso and other relevant partners such as the National Sports Authority (NSA).
“We will submit the list to the ministry through the Chef de Mission and copy the National Sports Authority for onward submission but we will also be dealing with the Confederation of African Athletics with regards to preparations and other things,” Mr Fuseini told the Daily Graphic.
“We will do the selection objectively based on performance and a selection criteria which all the athletes are aware of.”
Coaching team
The 10-member coaching team include former national athletes and certified coaches, Ignisious Gaisah, Eric Nkansah and Harry Dau-Mfum.
Notably, Ghanaian officials will oversee the athletics events at the games, with only three exceptions: a technical delegate and assistant from Senegal and Mauritius, and a technical director from the continental body.
To enhance the capacity of local officials, a World Athletics Referee and Examination training programme opened in Accra yesterday for about 80 prospective officials. The February 1-9 programme is being conducted by World Athletics-certified instructors, Bawah Alhassan and Kofi Bonney.
At the opening ceremony of the programme, the Director General of the NSA, Prof. Peter Twumasi, applauded Ghana Athletics for the initiative and its contribution to developing world-class athletes.
He expressed hope that the acquired knowledge would be used effectively with the sporting infrastructure available across the country to develop world-class talents and improve the country's reputation as a destination for international sporting events.
