Federations demand equal treatment for all sports
The heads of sports disciplines, with the notable exception of football, have demanded equal treatment from the state for athletes participating in the other sports.
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The group of federation heads stated that athletes who participated in sporting disciplines such as hockey, weightlifting, taekwondo, boxing, among other disciplines were not second-class citizens and, therefore, the preferential treatment football enjoyed had the potential to kill the other sports.
Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, the spokesperson for the federation presidents, Mr Nestor Galley, called for an equal and level playing field for all athletes irrespective of their discipline.
“In April, just before we left for the All African Games, volleyball and handball teams could not camp because there were no funds [available] but the football teams were camped,” he lamented, adding that GH¢10, 000 was the highest we got [for pre-games preparations] for athletics”.
Badminton, according to Mr Galley, who is President of the Ghana Badminton Federation, had a paltry GH¢4,000 for preparation but “we spent about GH¢6000 even for non-residential camping before we left for the games”.
He explained that athletes in other disciplines aside football had for the past four or five years participated in international competitions but had not been paid any bonuses, but the situation was not the same for football.
“That is not fair to the sportsmen and women who decide to do other sports,” said the disappointed badminton chief.
Responding to a question about why the federation heads kept raising funds to support their respective bodies and athletes in spite of a lack of funding from the government, the Ghana Weightlifting Association President, Mr Ben Nunoo-Mensah, said they went beyond their normal call of duty because of the desire to ensure the sports thrived.
“We do that because of the passion we have for the sport and also the will to help the youth who have decided to participate in the disciplines,” said Mr Nunoo-Mensah who appealed to the media to project Ghana sports positively in order to catch the eye of corporate bodies to support sports.
