body-container-line-1
30.09.2014 Cup of Nations

Nunoo Mensah rubbishes Ghana's 2017 AFCON bid

By MyJoyOnline
Nunoo Mensah rubbishes Ghana's 2017 AFCON bid
30.09.2014 LISTEN

President of the Ghana Weightlifting Federation (GWF), Ben Nunoo Mensah has hit out at the Government's bid to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

Initially, Libya was billed to host the tournament but dropped its interest as a result of political instability and the Sports Minister Mahama Ayariga wants Ghana to take advantage and host the continental showpiece three years from now.

 Nunoo Mensah believes, the Black Stars have been given so much attention and the necessary financial support over the years to the detriment of other sports disciplines but have nothing to show since 1982.

In an interview on Asempa FM, the disgruntled President says as  a country we are  is not serious about developing sports either than that, we won't be craving to host a tourney of a discipline that has won us nothing 32years down the lane

“If we have the chance of hosting a tournament that 12 of our disciplines will immediately have infrastructure or facilities that can help them to develop, why should we even think hosting a tourney for football that has nothing to show for being spent on when we say we want to develop sports in Ghana. Is it about time we looked at the other sporting disciplines too?

“As a nation, we owe it a duty to every youth of this country to identify his/her God given talent and develop it to the fullest not just football, let's not make any mistake, football in Ghana now is even all about the Black stars and if this is how a nation that claims to want to develop sports will go about things, then we aren't serious.

“Other sports disciplines are going through a lot.  For the past 3 years, my federation for example hasn't received a pesewa from the government to even organize a local tourney not to talk of travelling, has somebody sat back and wondered how we are able to go out there and win medals for the nation.

“Government should invest just 10% of the money spent on black stars into all the other 35 federations and see the tremendous progress.” He added

Despite BNM's concern, Ghana has submitted its bid today being deadline day for submission to host the tournament it co-hosted in 2000 with Nigeria after the games were taken away from Zimbabwe, and again in 2008, and this could be the third time if the likes of Algeria, Zimbabwe and Botswana are beaten to it when CAF announces the host in 2015.

  Story by Ghana/Asempa Sports/ Eric Asiedu Boadi

body-container-line