Sports Minister to calm nerves at Ghana Olympic Committee

Sports Minister Nii Lantey Vanderpuye is hopeful of settling the impasse at the Ghana Olympic Committee.

A scheduled ordinary congress by the Ghana Olympic Committee on July 23 did not come off because of a court injunction on the organizers.

The injunction was sought and obtained by the Ghana Weight lifting Federation from an Accra High Court.

Many fear this could derail Ghana’s chances at the Olympics with a few weeks to go but the Sports Minister is confident of resolving the issue.

“As a minister, the time that I got there and the time that the injunction was showed to me, there was nothing formal that has come to my table whether petition or any misunderstanding. But I was following some discussion on their platform which was normal discussion and so I wanted not to talk about what they were discussing."

“I have told them that the people that will go to court they should let me know because Ben Nunoo Mensah who is the President of the Federation is not in Ghana and I been informed that he will in the country on Wednesday. I will call him when he comes back and talk about what he doesn’t understand and the reason why he took that decision.

“We will explain things to him and we will make sure that understanding works because we going to the Olympics games our athletes will need a very peaceful and conducive atmosphere that will help us go to the Olympics games and come back peacefully without any problems.

“I think it is just a matter of communication and to some extent personal ego is also involved so I know how to go about it and I know how I will settle this issue because we have come very far

16 athletes will represent Ghana at the Olympics in Rio.

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Story by Ghana/Asempa Sports/Samuel Appiah