Sports News of Monday, 5 August 2019
Source: Graphic.com.gh
2019-08-05
Vice-President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), Paul Atchoe
The Vice-President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), Paul Atchoe says he is unperturbed by his removal as Ghana’s Chef de Mission of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games following his involvement in the infamous Australia Commonwealth Games visa scandal that rocked the nation last year.
A report by an investigative team lead by High Court judge, Justice Amadu Tanko, indicted Mr Atchoe and the former Ghana Swimming Association boss, Theophilus Wilson Edzie for complicity in the scandal and indicated that per their conduct, they were not fit to hold themselves as GOC officials.
The report also indicted the Ghana Boxing Federation President, George Lamptey; the Ghana Badminton Federation boss, Evans Yeboah; and the GOC’s media officer, Ken Adadey, and asked they be sanctioned for their roles in the issue.
At the GOC congress in Accra last Saturday, the report was discussed and a decision was taken on Messrs Atchoe and Edzie.
Atchoe, who is also president of the Ghana Volleyball Association (GVA), was removed as the head of Ghana’s delegation to the 2020 Olympics but retained his position on the GOC after the issues was put to a vote.
Per the GOC’s constitution, an executive member can be impeached after only two-thirds of delegates vote in favour of the motion. In the case of the country’s volleyball chef, he managed to scale that hurdle but Edzie was removed from office.
However, Mr Atchoe says he has put the issue behind him and has decided to move on.
“I won’t bother myself over this, congress made their decision and am well with that, so I wont be going to Tokyo 2020, he told this paper via a telephone conversation in Accra yesterday.”
He told the Graphic Sports that he believed his removal was occasioned by a letter sent by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the GOC that volleyball may not be part of the Olympics if action was not taken against its leadership for its role in the Commonwealth Games.
“It’s something I don’t want to talk about; I want to forget quickly. I have done very well for the sport of volleyball and there was no culpability on my side in the Australian scandal, he stated.”
He disclosed to this paper that he would go to the Africa Games in Morocco and supervise Ghana’s beach volleyball team.
Early last year, some Ghanaian journalists were deported from by the Australian immigration authorities over doubts about their identities and claims even though they were accredited for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Cold Coast, Australia.
The scandal prompted the government to order a police investigation into the issue, while the GOC leadership tasked the Justice Tanko-led committee to do an independent investigation into the matter and furnish it with a report which was laid before the GOC congress last week.
Meanwhile, GOC president, Ben Nunoo Mensah, has indicated to the Graphic Sports that disciplinary decisions would be taken against Messrs Yeboah, Lamptey and Adadey.
