Ofori Asare distances himself from Black Bombers selection process after Commonwealth Games setback

Black Bombers head coach Ofori Asare has clarified that he played no role in selecting Ghana’s boxing team for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, insisting the squad had already been picked before he assumed responsibility for the team’s preparations.

The experienced coach explained that the 10-member team was selected by a technical committee constituted by the Ghana Boxing Federation after an individual championship organised to identify the country’s representatives for the Games.

Speaking on Adom TV, Asare said his appointment came after the selection process had been concluded, meaning his role was limited to training and preparing the boxers for the competition.

“They participated in an individual championship prepared by the federation. The federation prepared a technical committee that put up the selection, so I wasn’t part of the committee,” Asare said.

“We were discussing who was to train the team at that point. The team was already presented before I had come to training.”

The coach stressed that his comments were not intended to question the ability or professionalism of the officials responsible for selecting the squad, but rather to clarify his involvement in the process.

“I’m not saying the people who selected the boxers are incompetent; I am just clarifying the point that I was not part of the technical committee. The people in the committee are competent, and I’m not against any of them,” he added.

His comments come amid scrutiny over Ghana’s boxing performance at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, where expectations were high after the country travelled with a 10-member squad.

The Black Bombers returned with just one medal, a bronze won by Amadu Mohammed in the men’s 55kg category, a result that has sparked debate over the state of Ghanaian boxing and the team’s preparations.

The outcome marked a decline from Ghana’s performance at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and matched the country’s boxing medal return from the 2018 edition in Gold Coast.

Asare’s clarification separates his coaching duties from the federation’s selection decisions, as stakeholders continue to assess Ghana’s overall performance at the Games and the way forward for the Black Bombers.