A call to save Ghana sports

• Members of the Black Bombers

Three weeks ago, this column focused on an attempt by the nation­al boxing team, the Black Bombers’ onslaught on tickets for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games made available at the ‘Road to Paris 2024’ qualifiers in Bangkok, Thailand.

At the time, the only team to have qualified for the Games was the 4x100m relay team from a similar qualifiers in the Bahamas.

That article under the headline ‘Black Bombers on rescue mission,’ sought to highlight the pressure on the Black Bombers to gain quali­fication to the global sporting extravaganza and add to the numbers of Team Ghana in Paris.

So, off to Bangkok an impressive Black Bombers team, made up of flyweight Theophilus Kpakpo Allotey, featherweight Mohammed Amadu, light welterweight Joseph Commey, light mid­dleweight Henry Malm, light heavyweight Jonathan Tetteh, British-based super heavy­weight Mark Kodjovi Ahondjo and United States-based female middleweight Ornel­la Sathoud, flew with high hopes.

Sadly, they failed to meet their own expectations and targets; meaning they would miss out on the competition that will feature the finest in the sport.

The team arrived on Tuesday at the Kotoka Inter­national Airport (KIA) with the disappointment of not qual­ifying written all over their faces.

From boxers, to coach­es and administrators, the mood was that of sadness and dejection.

That was understandable, looking at the huge opportu­nity missed and the thought of waiting for another four years to start the process all over again.

The next time they reas­semble for similar qualifiers, there is no guarantee wheth­er every member of the group would be available.

Surely, the ageing and ambitious ones would want to transit to the professional ranks and create new slots to be filled.

But this is the reali­ty check Ghanaian sports authorities must wake up to accept. It raises a lot of concerns over how the sport that used to provide initial candidates for the Games is now unable to do so.

Under the same technical leadership of Coach Ofori Asare, Ghana was a force in boxing at the Games though that cannot be substantiated on the Games medal table.

However, the likes of the Bastie brothers – Samir and Issah, Abdul Wahid Omar, Sulemana Tetteh, Samuel Takyi, Musa Rahman Lawson made Olympic qualification look easy.

So, why our boxers or athletes, generally, are struggling to qualify for the Olympics should be a matter of concern for sports adminis­trators.

Two things immediately comes to mind – that it’s either by way of low invest­ment in the sports or the fact that half-baked athletes are being produced.

With the Bangkok oppor­tunity gone with the wind, hopes of getting a boost for athletics rests on the two day Confederation of Africa Ath­letics (CAA) Region II Athletics Championships that ended at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium on Wednesday.

It is the hope of Ghanaians that more athletes would qualify from the event to join the relay team to make a proper representation at the Games.

Anything short of this would affect our image as a country that believes in the power of sports.

 By Andrew Nortey