Other Sports of Saturday, 20 September 2003

Source: d. kyere~duah ~ space fm

Ghana Has The Poorest Sports Facilities In West Africa

The acting Chief Executive Officer of National Sports Council has described the state of sports infrastructure in Ghana as the poorest in the Sub region. This revelation was made in an exclusive interview with Space Fm in Sunyani.

Expressing his regret about the bad state of affairs, he said the few facilities available are put under excessive pressure citing Accra Sports stadium as one of such facilities. He said research has established that a football pitch should not be used more than 350 hours a year but Accra sports stadium is used more than 1,000 hours a year.

According to the NSC boss negotiations have reached advanced stage to secure loans from Italy to start construction of tartan tracks in Kumasi, Accra and Winneba before ending of this year. He added that one stadium would be built in every Region.

Touching on the Abuja All African Games, he warned Ghanaians not to expect too much from the participants from Ghana since we lack facilities of international standards for training. He added that Ghana would be competing in only eleven out of the twenty three events that feature in the Games. He confirmed that only three local athletes would make it to Abuja.