Select the Best to Represent Ghana ... Perry Okudzeto Tells GoC

The Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Curtis Perry Okudzeto has called on the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) to ensure that athletes selected to represent Ghana in international sports competitions are of the best quality.

Interacting with a section of the media on Friday, the Deputy Minister said it was important for Ghanaian sports administrators to strategise well and be committed to the development of their sports personnel.

In his view, that was the only way by which their respective federations can produce quality athletes to represent the nation at international meets.

He said football and boxing have given Ghana a number of medals in the past due to the manner in which they were handled and continues to be two of the leading sports in the country.

He advised the GOC to guard against sending sub-standard athletes to competition only to come back with one or two medals.

"Instead of presenting a lot of untried and untested athletes to just add to the numbers, let's try to identify where our strength lies and raise very formidable teams to represent the country."

The Deputy Sports Minister was of the view that Ghana was not winning medals because of the rush to raise teams in areas we have not specialised at. We must check this in order to rescue our declining image in sports."

He commended dynamic sports administrators like president of the Ghana Rugby Union, Herbert Mensah for his commitment to the development and promotion of rugby in Ghana.

According to him, Ghana rugby is flying high the flag of Ghana in the African continental series and urged other federations to emulate the rugby style and strategy.

He said government was ready to collaborate and support federations that show progress in their activities, especially as the nation prepares for the 2023 All African Games.

He said sports was now a business and needed to be branded well to attract sponsorship from the corporate bodies.

Mr Okudjeto said the Ministry was poised to collaborate with the appropriate bodies to revive schools and colleges sports which in the past served as a huge platform for talent-hunt.

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