Stimulus package to athletes extended for a further six months

The National Youth Employment Agency (YEA) has extended its stimulus package to 1000 athletes across the country for a further 6 months, following the expiration of the initial agreement.

The YEA rolled out a scheme to pay 500 Ghana cedi monthly stipend to 1000 of Ghana’s elite sports men and women whose livelihoods were critically affected by the halt in sporting activities caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The initial scheme spanned July to December last year and 500 of the beneficiaries were drawn from the National Women’s League and they will now continue to receive the monthly allowance for another six months.

The YEA’s COVID-19 Relief is an offshoot of their Youth in Sports program providing employment for up 5,000 youth in Ghana.

The program was extended to the sporting fraternity to help alleviate the financial burdens the COVID-19 outbreak has brought to sports.

The Ghana Football Association were reportedly allocated 500 slots of beneficiaries which the Executive Council determined should go to the 16 elite women’s football clubs in Ghana, with 30 players from each team enrolled on the program.

The remaining 500 athletes were drawn from other sporting disciplines including boxing, athletics, weightlifting, para-sports, table tennis, tennis, swimming among others.