President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has re-emphasised his government’s commitment to ensure sports thrive in the country with a promise to see to it that all sporting disciplines receive the necessary support.
As proof of his government’s commitment, President Akufo Addo said the sports budget received a 100 per cent increment this year to ensure that the sports ministry got adequate funding to support sports in the country.
The President made the promise last Saturday at the 42nd MTN-SWAG Awards held to honour distinguished sportsmen and women at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Accra.
“Sports play a key role in the advancement of every nation. My government is beginning to ensure and to show its appreciation of the role of sports in the development of our nation and my increase of over 100 per cent in the budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Youth and Sports is the beginning of good things to come,” said the President.
“Sports is critical for the good health and wellbeing of the people and it brings joy and unity more than any other activity be it individual or team sport and many sportsmen have brought much joy to us so we will continue to cherish them while we keep supporting upcoming athletes in the country,” the president added as he paid tribute to old sportsmen and women who made Ghana proud on the international stage.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah, for his part said while the government was ready to support the promotion of Ghana sports, it was equally worried that sports journalists were not playing their role effectively as they chose to promote more of foreign sports to the detriment of sporting events at home.
He thus called on Ghanaian sports journalists to focus more on promoting the local league and other local sporting disciplines rather than the over-emphasis on foreign leagues.
“The competitive side of sports is well known to SWAG but the worrying phenomenon is that SWAG seems to be more conversant with reporting foreign sporting news, especially the English Premier League, than the local league. Even at the local front the emphasis is rather on football at the expense of other disciplines. This indeed, must change,” he said.
The highlight of the colourful event was the crowning by President Akufo-Addo of former Black Stars defender and FIFA General Coordinator Tony Baffoe as the Sports Personality of the Year.
Baffoe, resplendent in a blue suit, beat off a challenge from International Boxing Organisation (IBO) lightweight champion Emmanuel “Game Boy” Tagoe to claim SWAG’s flagship award.
Suleman Habuba, a consultant and former Communications Director for the Confederation of African Football (CAF), was also given a special award for his contribution to the development of African football.
