Bawa Fuseini explains why GAA buys flight tickets close to athletics competitions

The President of the Ghana Athletics Association (GAA), Bawa Fuseini, has disclosed that factors such as final entries and preparatory periods contributed to complications in travel arrangements for 4x100m relay athletes.

According to him, the GAA usually waits for athletes to complete their preparations before finalizing participants for major international competitions, in order to avoid last-minute issues.

He explained that while tickets are sometimes purchased two weeks before a competition, changes often occur if another athlete runs a faster time or if someone withdraws, leading to adjustments and challenges.

Ghana’s 4x100m relay team qualify for 2027 World Championships

Speaking in an interview with Sporty FM, Fuseini noted that the GAA has always bought tickets a week or just days before major events, but unfortunately, this time there were issues.

“It’s always been like that. We always get tickets a week or a few days before the competition. That’s how our tickets are bought. We have what we call final entries, preparation periods, and qualified athletes. Sometimes, if you buy the ticket two weeks before the competition, someone might run a faster time before departure and replace an athlete who already has a ticket. So we give athletes time to ensure we select those with the best times before we finally buy tickets for them,” he explained.

Fuseini continued: “For instance, if we bought a ticket for Bosho and he wasn’t going, or for Fuseni and someone ran a faster time than him before the competition, we would have to make changes. Sometimes athletes also inform us at the last minute that they are unavailable. We consider many variables before buying tickets, and we never got it wrong until this time, which has become a bit complicated.”

This comes after Ghana’s 4x100m relay team secured automatic qualification for the 2027 World Championships in Beijing with a time of 38.09 seconds.

Benjamin Azamati and Abdul Rasheed Saminu later raised concerns about inadequate logistics support and poor travel arrangements to Gaborone, Botswana.

Watch the interview below:

According to the President of Ghana Athletics, Bawa Fuseini, here's why tickets are bought a week or a few days before a competition. #SportyFM pic.twitter.com/mojiYk4qGW

— SportyFM Ghana (@SportyFM_) May 4, 2026

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