body-container-line-1

Sports should not only be funded from the consolidated fund-GOC General Secretary

By GNA
Sports News Sports should not only be funded from the consolidated fund-GOC General Secretary
SEP 28, 2016 LISTEN

By Emmanuel Asante Attakora, GNA
Accra, Sep 28, GNA - The General Secretary of the Ghana Olympics Committee (GOC), Mr. Richard Akpokavie, has said sports should not be funded from the consolidated fund.

Ghana has performed woefully in some major sporting tournaments in recent times and has been blamed on inadequate preparations and lack of funds.

In an interview with the GNA Sports, Mr. Akpokavie, said there was the need for the country not to over rely on the consolidated fund, since that will not be enough to cater for the country's needs.

'Sports funding from the consolidated fund is not done anywhere, a nation that is serious about sports will not rely solely on funding from that account.

'The consolidated account is not even enough for education, health, energy and the rest, which are very essential to our living, hence the need to take sports from that fund.

'To progress as a sports nation, we must find ways and means of funding sports we all love so much,' he stated.

Mr. Akpokavie suggested two ways by which Ghana could look to raise revenue to fund sports, adding that these have worked for most countries.

'Sports funding is a fundamental issue in Ghana, there are two ways we could go as a country. Through lottery and targeted tax on specific products and taxes on those targeted products and raise money from there.

'The money raised could be put in a fund that will be available at any time and run by trustees to make sure it is released timely.

'The revenue from those taxes could also be invested elsewhere if it's not needed anytime soon for it to generate some profit.

'More countries are doing it and they are yielding results for them, why can't we do same,' he stated.

According to him, it is time political parties and political aspirants buy into the idea of sports funding for the various disciplines to excel.

'Our parties and presidential candidates must commit themselves to funding sports.

'We have had deliberations with the current sports minister and he is enthused about it.

'We are hoping to finalize some of the discussions by close of year,' he stated.

GNA

body-container-line