$260,000 misappropriated At Ghana Athletics Association?

Deep concerns are hastily boiling over the Ghana Athletics Association's (GAA) alert of bankruptcy which it has stressed in media reports.

The GAA claims it is awaiting a pre-finance from the National Sports Authority (NSA) before it could organise its national championship this year, but findings have it that the Association has misappropriated huge sums of monies it received from corporate bodies and other bodies, hence its incapability to organise its competitions.

Prior to the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Association received huge monetary sponsorships from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), GCnet, rlg, Unibank, Tullow Oil, as well as the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), for its programmes, but strangely media reports have it that the GAA is broke and could not organise a national competition for this year unless government squeezes monies for it.

Notable among the sponsorships were rlg?s $200, 000 and the Maria Tsakos Foundation?s $60,000, alongside government?s support. Intriguingly, the preceding financial support which could have eased government?s burden has been misappropriated.

Currently, as matters stand, financing athletes to compete in international competitions would even cause financial loss to the state, as there has not been any preparatory competitions to sharpen their rough edges, while its experienced national head coach, Albert Nukpeza, has also been sidelined for over a year now, with the introduction of the GAA chairman?s pals.

Aside the noted huge financial support, the Ghana Athletics Association which has got its private auditor aside the official National Sports Authority auditor, strangely underscores that it is beset with financial difficulties with the Association already in debt after the completion of last year's calendar.

WritersEmail: okotosports@yahoo.com