There will be a new approach to sports funding under my Presidency - Bawumia
The Vice President and Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party(NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has announced that there will be a significant shift in sports funding to ensure Ghana meets the requirements for modern sports development.
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Addressing Ghanaians on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, to unveil his vision for the country if he is elected President, Dr. Bawumia highlighted the unrealized potential of Ghanaian sports, citing inadequate and unsustainable funding as a major obstacle.
"Sports is a multi-million dollar industry and a catalyst for youth development," Dr. Bawumia said. "However, we have yet to realize our full sports potential, and we cannot achieve this with the same funding model we have relied on since independence."
To address this issue and allow Ghanaian sports to flourish, Dr. Bawumia outlined his new sports development vision as President, focusing on policies, tax incentives, and increased private and public investment.
"My government will prioritize the creation of incentives for corporate sponsorship as a sustainable method of financing sports development and promotion for our national teams, including football, athletics, and boxing at all levels," he stated.
"This approach will alleviate financial pressure on the government and enable redirection of more support to other sports disciplines."
Dr. Bawumia also announced plans to establish the School Sports Secretariat, an agency under the Ministry responsible for Sports, to promote grassroots sports through schools in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service and sports federations.
This initiative aims to redirect more funding to grassroots development by boosting the activities of various federations.
"My government, as part of a broad sports development vision, will establish the Ghana School Sports Secretariat, which will be an agency under the ministry responsible for sports, in collaboration with other stakeholders such as the GES and sports federations," he said.
Dr. Bawumia added that as part of his vision to make Ghana a hub for emerging sports in Africa, his government will also seek school-level collaboration with international sports bodies like the NBA and NFL to make Ghana a hub for these emerging sports in Africa, to create more opportunities for young people.
"We have already tried this with the NFL, the governing body for American Football, which agreed to host in Ghana, in 2022, the first ever NFL Flag Football in Africa after my engagement with them. This paved the way for 10 young Ghanaians to be selected to the United States to represent Africa in a global NFL tournament last year."
"Another set of young Ghanaians, who were picked after the 2nd NFL Africa Football was also held in Ghana last year, are currently in the United States to represent Africa."
